Drowning is a serious public health concern.
A study conducted by the National Sea Rescue Institute (A South African Epidemiological Study of Fatal Drownings: 2016-2021) indicates that it is an assumption that drownings occur frequently in the ocean despite an abundance of resources deployed to prevent these drownings.
This study, said NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon, determined that drownings occurred more frequently in freshwater in SA during 2016 – 2021.
Dr. Jill Fortuin, Executive Director of Drowning Prevention at NSRI, explained that the purpose of this study is to provide an overview of fatal drownings in South Africa between 2016 and 2021.
“The results of this study have indicated that KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province had the highest incidence of drowning. In addition to that, the 0–4-year-age group has the highest prevalence of drowning among all the age categories,” Fortuin added.
“Furthermore, in the study, males represent 81% of all the drownings for the time period of the study, which can be attributed to more risky behaviour.”
The study also showed that the Eastern Cape is the province with the second most drownings, with 1869 drownings reported for that period.
It is followed by Gauteng, which has 1 006 reported drownings, and the fourth province is the Western Cape, with 864.
“The age category where drowning is most prevalent is the 0-4-year age group,” said Fortuin. “This finding is supported by international research. The message this festive season is to supervise your children diligently.
“With the festive season upon us we are urging extreme caution to South Africans who will be making their way to the coast to not drink and swim, supervise children in and around the water and ensure that you know the emergency number.”
