Obviously it is painful. But we experience these sort of terrible events very often. Death by drowning happens so quickly that a child may die before anyone helps him/her.

A comprehensive research reveals that drowning is the single leading cause of death among children aged between 1 and 17 years. The Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey (BHIS) showed that almost 17000 children drown every year in Bangladesh, while 46 everyday.

More children die because of drowning than that of any other injury or of non-injury related killers like pneumonia, malnutrition or diarrhoea. Yet deaths due to drowning have gone relatively unnoticed. As a result drowning prevention and management remain almost non-existent.

The BHIS finding shows that the greatest number of victims are children between the ages of one and four years. Those who are just learning to walk face the highest risk of all. When a busy mother notices that her toddler is not by her side is often too late.

The child need not wander far, most deaths happen very close to home. Three quarters of all child drowning take place in water less than 20 metres from their houses. The youngest usually die in water less than 10 metres away.

All water sources are dangerous equally and rivers, ponds, lakes claim many lives. Greater numbers die in drainage ditches or puddles and even in household water such as tubs, buckets, water drums and so on. Babies may drown into water even at one inch deep.

The drowning death toll peaks at one year old. It falls steeply once children reach the age of five years as after that they learn how to swim.

Usually drowning occurs while children are engaged in playing and there remains lack of adequate supervision. Busy mothers with a large family are often unable to look after their little ones.

In most drowning cases, children remain alone or accompanied by other children who are incapable of rescuing them.

Prevention
World Congress on Drowning recommends the following interventions that could save children from drowning.

Supervision: The first action to prevent drowning is to monitor children. Supervision is the best way to cut short the number of drowning cases. Never leave a child unattended around water. Whenever young children are swimming, playing or bathing in water, make sure a grown-up person is watching them - that means the supervisor should not read, play cards, talk on the phone, mow the lawn or do any other distracting activity while watching children.

Awareness raising
Making the families aware of the risks is another tool to prevent the unexpected cases. A drowning-checklist could be given to mothers so that they become alert to the risk factors.

Barriers around water
Establish fences or other types of barriers between children and water sources. Encourage families and communities to devise their own safety measures where water is present.

Keep small children away from buckets containing liquids; specially 5-gallon industrial containers are a particular danger. Be sure to empty buckets when household chores are done.

Swimming and water safety
Make parents aware of the need to teach children for their water safety skills and knowledge. Support the efforts of the parents through a nationwide early childhood swimming programme.

It is the high time to design and implement comprehensive prevention programmes that will save many lives.