Attending the training course were 65 representatives of officials in charge of child protection and care from the Departments of Health, Education and Training, Culture and Sports, and communes of 15 northern provinces and cities, including Ha Noi, Thai Nguyen, Ninh Binh, Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Hai Phong...
The event is one of the activities to implement Decision No.1248/QD-TTg dated July 19, 2021 of the Prime Minister approving the Programme for preventing and combating child accidents and injuries for the 2021–2030 period.
Speaking at the opening of the training course, Kelly L. Larson — Director of Injury Prevention Program, Bloomberg Philanthropies (the US) — said that drowning is the third leading cause of death due to accidents in the world, claiming about 300,000 lives each year. More than 90% of cases occur in low- and middle-income countries, and children under five years of age are the most vulnerable group.
Worldwide, Bloomberg Philanthropies has supported many drowning prevention programmes with a total amount of more than 104 million USD. Last year, the Foundation continued to commit an additional 60 million USD to expand the programme in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Uganda, Viet Nam and the US.
Regarding the implementation of the programme in Viet Nam, she informed that since 2018, Bloomberg Philanthropies (CTFK is the accompanying unit) has coordinated with the Vietnamese Government, specifically the Department of Children under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs — now the Department of Mothers and Children under the Ministry of Health — to implement the drowning prevention programme for children in localities.
Accordingly, more than 240,000 school-age children have participated in safe swimming classes supported by the programme and co-sponsored by local authorities. More than 1,500 swimming teachers have been certified by the General Department of Sports and Physical Training under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to teach.
That has been through the work of nine ministries, led by the Ministry of Health, but also in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, to effectively engage local provinces to provide swim instruction to their children, she said, adding that in the areas that have provided swim instruction, there has been a 16% decrease in drownings.
Kelly said she was impressed with the level of commitment across all ministries in Viet Nam. They have come together to ensure that there are resources to provide children with swim instruction. She was also impressed with the provincial commitment to provide funding to support swim instruction in their respective provinces throughout the country. It’s a great example of how a country can protect its children by coming together both at the national level and at the provincial level, she noted.
According to her, Viet Nam is currently one of the leading countries in the world in implementing drowning prevention programmes based on scientific evidence. In the coming time, Bloomberg Philanthropies will continue to provide technical support to the Ministry of Health and relevant agencies to help Viet Nam expand the scale of swimming teaching programs, protecting children aged 6 to 15 — especially in areas where natural disasters and floods frequently occur. At the same time, it creates opportunities for Viet Nam to share experiences and practical lessons with other countries.
Within the framework of the training course, representatives of the Department of Mothers and Children shared content related to national policies on child injury prevention and control; legal framework on child drowning prevention and control; roles and responsibilities of authorities at all levels; inter-sectoral coordination mechanisms in localities...
The delegates also listened to technical staff from the World Health Organization (WHO) in Viet Nam informing them about the global and Vietnamese child drowning situation, analysing the causes and risk factors, socio-economic impacts of drowning, scientific evidence on the effectiveness of swimming teaching from WHO.
Sharing experiences in implementing safe swimming programmes and safety skills for children, Doan Thi Thu Huyen, Country Director of the CFTK, said that drowning can happen in just a moment, but with the right awareness and timely action, drowning can be completely prevented.
