Chapainawabganj Correspondent: In 2020, 17 people drowned in Chapainawabganj district. Of these, 13 are children. Children range in age from one and a half years to 14 years. Of the remaining 4, 3 are old (ages 54, 60, 68) and 1 is 35 years old.
The information came from a survey conducted by Shishu Kalyan Trust (unregistered), a non-governmental organization in Chapainawabganj district.
According to the Child Welfare Trust, Shibganj Upazila has the highest number of drownings out of 17 in the district. Then there are 4 people in Gomstapur upazila. 3 in Baki Sadar Upazila, 2 in Nachol Upazila and 1 in Bholahat Upazila.
Of the 17 people who drowned, 11 were men and 6 were women. Of these, a maximum of 7 people have died by drowning in a pond next to their house. Of the rest, 6 died in Pagla river, 2 in Mahananda river and 2 in Punarbhaba river.
Md. Rabiul Alam, chairman of Shishu Kalyan Trust (unregistered), the only non-governmental organization in the district dealing with drowning deaths, said the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to reduce the under-five mortality rate in Bangladesh to 25 per thousand by 2030. Has been determined. Apart from diseases, a large number of children drown in Bangladesh every year. Therefore, in order to achieve the SDG target on infant mortality, it is important to reduce these preventable deaths. It is possible to save a large number of children from drowning through awareness raising and collaborative activities at the family level. Doing so will make it easier for SDGs to achieve their goals. For this, besides the government and non-government organizations, the media also has to play an active role.
He added that an average of 50 children drown every day in the country. Of these, 32 are under the age of four (according to the World Health Organization). This number stands at about 12 thousand per year. In addition, more than 13,000 children became permanently disabled due to drowning. One lakh children were injured in various ways due to drowning.
Chairman Rabiul Alam said the media does not get information about all the deaths due to drowning. No effective national and local data collection system has been developed yet. Again, the media reports are only incidental. There is a lack of in-depth report on this. If the media gives importance to in-depth reporting, the issue will become important at the policy-making level and will accelerate the adoption of national programs.
Referring to a research report, he said that if children are kept under intensive care in the early part of the day, it is possible to prevent 70 per cent drowning deaths in Bangladesh. In this case, the village-based child daycare center is effective in successfully preventing the death of children by drowning. Besides, these village based institutions are also helpful for the physical and mental development of the children. Such daycare arrangements can make a significant contribution to reducing the under-five mortality rate of children under the age of five in other low- and middle-income countries such as Bangladesh.
