Vietnamplus

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has sent letters to a man and a student, praising them for their life-saving actions.

Vietnam needs to integrate drowning prevention and climate change management programmes, Dang Hoa Nam, director of the Child Affairs Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) has said.

Vietnam has decreased the number of child drowning cases by 100 each year since 2016. While this may seem like an encouraging outcome initially, the fact remains that drowning is still among the leading causes of death for children in the country.

Nearly 14,000 children aged 6 - 15 have been equipped with swimming safety skills, and more than 30,000 with water safety skills over the last two years thanks to classes held by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) and relevant agencies in Vietnam.

Nearly 100 children representing more than 100,000 children in the central province of Quang Tri attended a forum with National Assembly deputies in the locality on December 13.

A Rohingya migrant is said to be the only survivor from a boat carrying at least two dozen asylum seekers that is believed to have run into difficulty off the Malaysian coast near Thailand, a coastguard official of Malaysia said on July 26.

A project on child drowning prevention carried out in the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai has reaped positive results, according to the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

As many as 3,600 injuries are reported every day in Vietnam, killing about 90 people, said Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son at a national scientific conference on injury prevention in Hanoi on November 12.

Drowning among children is a huge concern in many countries. To reduce the risk, Nghe Hai commune, Cua Lo district, Nghe An province has opened swimming classes for children on Lam Giang river.

The sixth national children’s forum convened in Hanoi on August 15, gathering 169 children aged between 9 and 15 nationwide.

Nearly 70 children in the central province of Quang Binh raised their voice on issues regarding child abuse and drowning at a forum in Dong Hoi city on August 7-8.

A forum to raise public awareness of children’s rights to participate in child issues was held in the northern central province of Thanh Hoa on July 4.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Welfares, 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.

The central coastal province of Thanh Hoa is intensifying activities under the local project on sustainable interference to prevent child drowning after several incidents happened in the locality in the past five months.

The Mekong Delta has the highest rate of drowning in the country, particularly in Dong Thap province, where the number of deaths due to drowning is 10 times higher compared to that of dengue fever and hand, foot and mouth disease combined.

A ceremony was held in the northwestern province of Hoa Binh on June 3 to launch the campaign on preventing disasters related to water for children and students during the flood season.

The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on June 1 held a ceremony to launch a movement encouraging locals to practice swimming against drowning.

Child deaths due to drowning in Vietnam remain alarmingly high. Each year, drowning claims the lives of more than 2,000 children nationwide.

A campaign entitled “Act for Children” was launched in Hanoi on June 1, the International Children’s Day, with the goal of stopping school violence and child abuse through raising awareness of families, schools and the community.

Vietnam had been taking measures to teach children how to swim in recent years, but more than 2,000 children still died from drowning annually.