March 16, 2009
Bangkok (ASTV Manager Online) – Most of Thai children drowned during March-April where the summer vacation took place. More than eleven million children can’t swim.
Drowning was the major cause of death for children aged less than 15 years old, especially those who were 5-9 years old.
Public health ministry conducted a survey with 13 million children nationwide in 2006.
It was worrying that only 16 percent or more than 2 million children could swim.
Last year, the ministry tried to prevent children from drowning by urging their parents to take care of them more closely.
On March 21, 2007, five children in the northeast drowned in a waterway close to their houses after an after-school swimming went wrong.
More than 800 hospitals nationwide were assigned to give knowledge about how to protect children to the parents.
Public health ministry targeted to reduce the number of drowning children to lower than 1,200 per year by 2010.
More children aged over one year are dying from injury than any other causes, according to The Alliance for Safe Children (TASC)’s survey.
Drowning claims more lives and most of them are less than five years old, although these deaths are preventable.
