Abstract
Drowning is a public health issue in the Philippines, with children at significantly increased risk. Determinants of health (DoH) such as education, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and urbanization are factors that impact drowning risk. As drowning is a multisectoral issue, a national drowning prevention plan can drive collaboration with relevant stakeholders. This study reports trends in unintentional child (0–14 years) drowning in the Philippines (incidence, rates, and trends over time for fatal and non-fatal (years lived with a disability (YLDs) and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) from 2008–2017 and conducts an analysis of the Philippines’ Multisector Action Plan (MSAP) on Drowning Prevention. From 2008–2017, 27,928 (95%UI [Uncertainty Interval]: 22,794–33,828) children aged 0–14 years died from drowning (52.7% aged 5–14 years old). Rates of drowning have declined among both age groups, with greater reductions seen among 0–4 year olds (y = −0.3368x + 13.035; R2 = 0.9588). The MSAP has 12 child drowning-specific activities and 20 activities were identified where DoH will need to be considered during development and implementation. The MSAP activities, and work done to prevent drowning more generally, must consider DoH such as education, urbanization, water and sanitation health, and safe water transportation. A national drowning surveillance system and investment in research in the Philippines are recommended.
Highlights
Drowning in low- and middle-income countries has been identified as an issue requiring significant investment in order to reduce the burden to global public health [1]
This section outlines data trends in child drowning in the Philippines while exploring the multisector action plan relevant to child drowning reduction and the determinants of health
Child Drowning Deaths in the Philippines In total, 27,928 (95% Uncertainty Interval [UI]: 22,794–33,828) children aged 0–14 years died from drowning in the Philippines between 2008 and 2017 (Table 1)
Summary
Drowning in low- and middle-income countries has been identified as an issue requiring significant investment in order to reduce the burden to global public health [1]. Across decades of research the risk factors for child drowning are reasonably well understood [5,6,7]. These include a lack of supervision when children are in or around water, unrestricted access to water through the absence of barriers or covers such as for wells, lack of awareness of dangers owing to their young age, and an inability to swim [8,9,10]. What is less well understood is what influences the uptake of these strategies given that drowning often impacts those from low socio-economic backgrounds [1]
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