Survival Swimming is Key to Stopping Childhood Drownings

Drowning, a global epidemic, claims over 372,000 lives annually, with Vietnam ranking among the top countries with high drowning rates.

Despite efforts by authorities, inadequate capacity hinders the establishment of effective prevention programs. In Vietnam, where 35 lives are lost to drowning daily, lack of swimming skills exacerbates the problem, especially among children. Drowning is a leading cause of mortality among Vietnamese children under 15.

Swim for Life Vietnam seeks to address this by providing survival swimming education and raising community awareness, but sustained support is essential for its success.

1.    Globally, drowning claims more children’s lives than the cumulative fatalities resulting from measles, polio, whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria, and tuberculosis combined.

2.    70% of primary and junior high school children in Vietnam can’t swim (approx. 10 million kids).

3.    95% of children aged four and above who succumbed to drowning lacked basic swimming skills.

4.    Vietnam reports 35 drownings per day / 12,000 – 13,000 drownings per year, predominantly 5 – 14-year-olds.

5.    Vietnam has over 3,260 kilometers (approximately 2,000 miles) of coastline.

Our parent organization, Golden West Humanitarian Foundation. has been a pivotal force in addressing critical safety needs post-conflict, including unexploded ordnance removal and now, drowning prevention.