Drowning prevention: A global health promotion imperative, now more than ever

Abstract

Health promotion and injury prevention have in common the mobilisation of communities and coalitions to develop and implement a range of evidence-informed strategies to prevent disease, protect health and ultimately, reduce mortality and morbidity. 1 Over the past three decades, health promotion and injury prevention have been brought together in the Health Promotion Journal of Australia across articles on many injury prevention areas, including drowning prevention. This has included the publication of two special issues almost 20 years apart-in 1991 and again in 2018.Since that first special issue on injury prevention so early in the HPJA's inception, the journal has published a growing number of papers on drowning prevention, from those focusing on exploring water safety attitudes and practices 2 to papers exploring pool fencing compliance. 3 In this Editorial, we reflect on developments in drowning prevention from our perspectives as health promotion practitioners, researchers and policymakers, and highlight global and national drowning prevention endeavours over the past 5 years to reduce the impact of fatal and non-fatal drowning. As we head towards the sixth World Conference on Drowning Prevention (WCDP), hosted in 2023 for the first time in Australia, we explore future opportunities and challenges to guide further investment and innovation to address the very important issue of the prevention of fatal and non-fatal drowning.The evidence is clear that drowning is a leading killer globally, with the greatest mortality burden affecting children, young adults, socially and economically disadvantaged populations and those living in low-and middle-income countries. 4 Drowning is a complex public health issue, 5,6 resulting from a range of dynamic, and interconnected personal, behavioural, social, commercial, economic, ecological and political determinants of health. Since the launch of the Global Report on Drowning by the World Health Organization (WHO) a decade ago, there has been considerable progress in drowning prevention around the world. 7,8 Drowning prevention awareness has grown, and there are an increasing number of dedicated educational, environmental, policy and research efforts to prevent drownings and save lives, across the jurisdictions where people live, work and play. 9 For example, there has been commendable and measurable progress made in drowning prevention over the past 5 years, especially in countries such as Bangladesh, the Philippines, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Vietnam. 9,10

Young people's alcohol use in and around water: A scoping review of the literature

“…While the extant literature suggests that young people are frequently exposed to alcohol advertising [8], including that which features aquatic locations and activities, and that this exposure influences their use of alcohol [5], there has to date been little attention paid to how this advertising might impact upon alcohol‐related harms in aquatic environments. A recent call to action has emphasised the need for increased advocacy and policy efforts to counteract the effects of the alcohol industry that uses its considerable influence through media, product placement, sponsorship, and corporate social responsibility activities to legitimise practices that can harm the health of young people [52].…”