Government House, The government has raised the level of drowning prevention by organizing a seminar to strengthen the network to prevent drowning in Thailand on World Drowning Prevention Day, which is held every July 25, to reduce the risk of drowning losses, emphasizing the 3 approaches of 'Shout, Throw, Reach'. Mr. Chai Wachirong, the government spokesman, revealed that Mr. Settha Thavisin, the Prime Minister, places importance on developing and taking care of children to have a suitable quality of life and education. He has ordered strict supervision, including measures to solve the problem of children and youth out of the education system to become zero (Thailand Zero Dropout) to help reduce the problem of educational inequality in Thailand. Another issue that the Prime Minister is concerned about is to focus on promoting knowledge about water safety and survival skills from drowning, raising the level of drowning prevention for children under 15 years old, promoting prevention and monitoring according to 3 important approaches, 'Shout, Throw, Reach', to reduce the risk of death from drowning. The government spokesman said that the government, through the Ministry of Public Health, the Department of Disease Control, and the Injury Prevention Division, organized a seminar to strengthen the Thai drowning prevention network on World Drowning Prevention Day (WDPD 2024) and presented the MERIT MAKER Plus award to the 2023 national drowning prevention team on July 25, 2024 at The Portal Ballroom, Impact Muang Thong Thani, Nonthaburi Province, under the concept of 'Anyone can drown, no one should: Drowning is easier than you think… No life should be lost' to encourage all sectors to be aware of drowning, especially the problem of child drowning in Thailand, along with promoting drowning prevention and surveillance according to the 3 important approaches of 'Shout, Throw, Reach' to reduce the risk of death from drowning. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), drowning is the number 1 cause of death amo ng children aged 5-14 years. Worldwide, 236,000 people die from drowning each year, of which approximately 82,000 are children under the age of 15. In Thailand, drowning is the second leading cause of death after land transport accidents. According to data from the past 10 years (2014-2023), 36,503 people died from drowning, or more than 10 people per day. Of these, 6,693 were children under the age of 15. The Ministry of Public Health has focused on preventing drowning, especially among children under the age of 15, as this is the number 1 group of deaths, and the main cause is a lack of survival skills and proper assistance for people who fall into the water/drown. From the above causes, the Department of Disease Control has been continuously working by setting measures to prevent drowning, creating knowledge and understanding to cover all areas at the community level, along with using strategies to implement measures to prevent drowning under the name of 'Good Action Makers' or MERIT MAKER, which is a net work team from foundations, associations, and volunteers who will be representatives in communicating and taking care of people in the area, which has been continuously working. In the past 17 years, it has been able to reduce child drowning deaths by 60 percent from 1,500 deaths per year to 615 at present, including campaigning for all sectors to jointly provide knowledge about water safety and survival skills from drowning in order to reduce the number of children under 15 years old who die from drowning to no more than 290 by 2037, in line with the target of the 20-year national strategic plan. In addition, the Prime Minister's Office spokesman emphasized the guidelines for assistance in the event of encountering someone falling into the water/drowning, in which the Ministry of Public Health recommends measures according to 3 important guidelines: "Shout, Throw, Reach" as follows: 1) Shout: Call for help, ask for help and call the 1669 emergency medical team or a nearby hospital. 2) Throw: Throw nearby equipment to help the person who fell in the water hold on to and support themselves, such as an empty plastic gallon container with a lid, an empty plastic water bottle, or materials that can float. 3) Extend: Extend nearby equipment, such as a stick, rope, shirt, or sarong, for the person who fell in the water to grab and pull out of the water. If the person who fell in the water has been helped out of the water, you must immediately notify the hospital, public health officer near your home, or call the 1669 emergency medical team as soon as possible. The public can learn skills and methods to prevent drowning, and provide advice to children and youth through the game 'Know Before Playing in Water' at https://mosu.fun/waterhelp/, created by the Injury Prevention Division, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, which will present 4 basic skills: water safety rules, dealing with drowning situations, first aid to help drowning people, and recommendations for water safety. For more informat ion, please contact the Department of Disease Control hotline at 1422. 'The Prime Minister is concerned about the problem of drowning in children, especially during school breaks. Therefore, he has emphasized that all sectors should be aware of its importance, create knowledge and understanding, and provide guidelines and measures to promote water safety, along with correct drowning survival skills for the public. He also thanked all parties for their cooperation in creating a protective barrier, developing skills for the public to survive, and reducing the risk of potential incidents. The Prime Minister has emphasized that parents should closely supervise their children and should not let children play in the water alone, even if it is a water source near their home or for only a short period of time,' said Mr. Chai. Source: Thai News Agency
Sunday, September 08, 2024