Child drownings ‘an urgent matter'

HA NOI — The leadership of local authorities has played an important part in successfully reducing the number of child drownings, Dam Huu Dac, the Permanent Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, has said.

"Child drownings have become an increasingly urgent social matter. I am sorry to say that it hasn't received proper attention [in the past] at the local level, " he told Viet Nam News.

Speaking at the launch of a campaign to highlight the problem in Ha Noi yesterday, Dac said local communities and local leaders needed to promote awareness about the issue.

Representatives from 15 provinces with the highest rates of child drowning attending the meeting said steps needed to be taken to improve waterway safety.

Ngo Thi Minh, vice chairwoman of the National Assembly's Culture and Education for Adolescent and Child Committee, said: "It is important that we deliver on our promises and commitments. It's always easier said than done.

"We need to raise awareness about child drowning. We need to identify all the situations where children are at risk. The more specific the better."

Le Minh Chau, deputy director of the Ministry of Transport's Traffic Safety Department, said that in coastal provinces and regions that were criss-crossed by numerous waterways, children often travelled to school by boat. River transport safety needed to be improved in these areas, she said.

Chau said that in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Ca Mau, about 31,000 students travelled to school by ferryboat. However, she said only about 10,000 out of 100,000 boats were registered, while about 80,000 pilots had received no formal training.

She said her department and the Ministry of Education and Training would determine just how many children travelled to school by ferryboat.

Meanwhile, free life jackets have been given to students in Ca Mau and An Giang provinces. She said more would be distributed to students in Dong Thap Province in the near future.

Pham Van Tuan, deputy director of An Giang Province's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the province was among 15 with the highest rates of child drowning.

Since 2003, more than 100,000 children in the province aged between 6 and 11 have been taught to swim. The province has also set up childcare centres for the rainy season.

Drowning is the largest cause of injury-related child mortality in the country. Viet Nam has the highest fatal drowning rate in the region. On average, in 2008, every day 10 children died from drowning.

The highest mortality rate was in Ha Noi and the provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. — VNS