Efforts against child drowning strengthened in Lao Cai province

Lao Cai (VNA) – The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the People’s Committee of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai, the World Health Organisation, the Bloomberg Philanthropies charitable fund and a global health policy lobbying organization of the US have launched a programme to fight drowning among the children in Lao Cai province.

Speaking at the ceremony on June 28, Vice Chairman of the Lao Cai People’s Council Giang Manh Nha stressed the importance of the families in helping ensure the safety for the children, and advised them to turn their attention to the building of the “safety house” model to eliminate the danger for the children.

The officials ordered local authorities to increase their investment in the construction of swimming pools to arm the children with the swimming skills. The families should pay special attention to the children during their summer vacation, he stressed.

In 2017, drowning took the life of 17 children in the province, and the figure last year was 23. In the first six months of this year alone, nine children have drowned to their death, an increase of 28 percent year on year.

On average, each year Vietnam sees over 2,000 children die of drowning, the highest in Asia and 10 times the figure in developed countries.

Lao Cai is among the eight provinces nationwide selected to implement a project to fight child drowning this year.-VNA