Royal Life Saving is a member organisation of the International Life Saving Federation, a network of lifesaving agencies from across the world who share a commitment to drowning prevention.
Increasingly our skills and expertise are being utilised to assist the international communities in most need. Drowning rates in the Asia-Pacific region are frighteningly high and largely unnoticed.
Royal Life Saving continues to work with the International Life Saving Federation and partners, The Alliance for Safe Children (TASC), the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research of Bangladesh (CIPRB), Hanoi School of Public Health and others in the development of interventions to prevent drowning in countries in Asia.
Our lifesaving activities include:
- Supporting emerging lifesaving agencies
- Training and development
- Water safety consultancy
- Provision of resources and funding
Facts and Figures about Drowning in Low and Middle Income Countries
- More than 96% of drowning deaths occur in low and middle income countries (LMICs)
- Child drowning is estimated to exceed 200,000 deaths every year
- Most child drowning in LMICs occur through everyday activities, not through recreation
- The drowning rate is 20 times higher in Asia than in high income countries like Australia
- One child drowns in Asia every 45 seconds during daylight hours
- Approximately half of all children who drown in Asia are under the age of five
- Almost half of all children aged 1–4 who drown in Asia, do so within 10 metres of their home
- Approximately 50 children drown in Bangladesh every day. By comparison, approximately 50 children drown in Australia every year
- The majority of child drowning occurs in rural areas; rice paddies, wells, fish ponds, troughs for livestock, irrigation canals and similar hazards are situated in and around the home environment
