Campaign launched to prevent drowning
VGP – A campaign encouraging the community to practice swimming for drowning prevention was launched with the participation of Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam and over 3,000 pupils at Long Bien district on May 19.
|
|
|
Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam addresses at the campaign, Ha Noi, May 19, 2019 |
Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien reported that during the 2010-2015, more than 3,000 youngsters and children died of drowning, including about 2,200 children under 16 years old, each year.
The figure dropped to 1,995 in 2017 and 782 in the first half of 2018. Experts attributed the high number of drowning cases to the lack of anti-drowning skills and the supervision of adults on children in unsafe conditions and natural disasters such as flooding.
In the 2017-2018 period, the sports sector held 36,298 swimming teaching courses which recruited over 3.6 million youngsters. Over 2.1 million youngsters knew how to swim. Meanwhile, over 4.9 million of children learned safety skills in water environment. The modal of “All children in communes know how to swim” was built at 701 communes. The modal of “All pupils know how to swim” was implemented at 753 schools.
As of October 30, 2018, Viet Nam had 4,689 swimming pools.
Addressing the event, Deputy PM Dam stressed that know how to swim is not enough. It necessary for people to equip with skills to save people from drowning. The Government leader also tasked relevant agencies to warn vulnerable drawing areas./.
By Kim Anh
