A swimming class for children. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) — The Prime Minister has approved a programme to prevent children from having accidents from 2016-2020.
It aims to see a decline in the rate of children falling victims to accidents to six per thousand and that of children killed in accidents to 1.7 per thousand.
The programme also aims to reduce the number of children killed in road accidents by 25 percent and build five million safe houses, 10,000 safe schools and 300 communes with safe community standards.
Communication work will be enhanced to raise the awareness of injury prevention among children, the community, relevant agencies and staff.
Safe houses, schools, roads and communities will be built while consultation and treatment services will be provided for children and their families.
The programme aims to spread the pilot models in a bid to develop a safe network for children while connecting relevant bodies to devise measures to prevent fatal drowning and traffic accidents.
The programme has estimated funds of 670 billion VND (30 million USD). Of this total, 160 billion VND (7 million USD) comes from the state budget, 420 billion VND (19 million USD) is from the local budget and the rest will be mobilised from international sources.
Accidental injuries among children are a pressing problem around the world, especially in Vietnam, where the rate of accidental injuries and deaths is among the highest in the world.
By 2020, the government wants at least 90 percent of children to use buoyancy aids while travelling on waterways, and public pools and beaches to have safety licences.-VNA
