About

With the proud support of the Australian-ASEAN Council and the Life Saving Society Malaysia - Penang, Royal Life Saving Society - Australia is facilitating the South East Asia Drowning Prevention Forum and Workshop in Penang, Malaysia.

Background

In 2021, the United Nations passed its first ever Resolution on Global Drowning Prevention committing to greater efforts to prevent drowning, a leading cause of injury-related death and disability.

Drowning has been described by the World Health Organization as a serious and neglected public health threat that claims 236,000 lives annually. It is the leading cause (after infancy) of child death and adolescent in many ASEAN nations.

The purpose of the forum and workshop is to facilitate information sharing, build awareness and capacity, and highlight strategies to reduce drowning across ASEAN nations.

Representatives from government and non-government organisations in ASEAN nations Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, and Viet Nam are joined by representatives from the World Health Organisation, Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom to learn from each other.

Venue

The event is being held over three days at the Rainbow Paradise Beach Resort, Penang, in Western Malaysia.

Acknowledgement

We thank the  Australian-ASEAN Council for their generous support of this initiative.