The World Health Organization (WHO) will publish the “Global Status Report on the General State of Drowning Risk Reduction in the European Union and Neighboring Countries” by the summer of 2025. In response to a request from the State Chancellery, the information about the situation in Latvia has been compiled for the WHO report, as well as proposals for drowning prevention management in Latvia provided by the organization “Swim Safe.”
“Participating in the preparation of the WHO’s first Global Report on Drowning Prevention for a country that ranks first in drowning statistics per 100,000 inhabitants is not only a great opportunity to gain global experience and knowledge but also a responsibility. At the same time, it must be understood that without integrating drowning prevention strategies into state political documents and action plans, as well as securing funding for implementation, it is naive to hope for a reduction in the number of drownings,” says Zane Gemze, founder of “Swim Safe.”
Z. Gemze emphasizes that Latvia lags behind the world not only in understanding safety on and near water but also in taking action to prevent it. Other countries have been developing drowning prevention strategies for even up to 100 years. By doing nothing, we will continue to lose Latvian lives. Therefore, we must immediately learn and adopt the best practices and the most effective solutions for drowning prevention, while avoiding the mistakes made by other countries.
The WHO “Global Status Report on the General State of Drowning Risk Reduction in the European Union and Neighboring Countries” will be the first document of its kind, assessing both the scale of drowning incidents and their resulting burdens in specific countries. The aim of the study is to develop effective local drowning prevention solutions.
In November, a WHO working meeting on drowning prevention in the European Union and neighboring countries was held in the Netherlands to clarify the report’s content and coordinate its preparation. The meeting gathered a wide range of specialists from both the non-governmental sector and government institutions. Latvia was represented by Zane Gemze, founder of “Swim Safe,” among 45 experts from the European Union and neighboring countries. The working group includes lifeguards, water safety experts, swimming competence development specialists, drowning prevention experts, paramedics, researchers, health promoters, and other specialists.
“Participating in such an event provides access to information at its source and enables direct communication with water safety experts from around the world, who are eager to share their experiences and identify mistakes made. We are particularly pleased that our prepared case study titled ‘NGOs Mobilize the Latvian Government to Better Address Drowning Issues’ will be included in the final report as an example of the impact of the non-governmental sector in addressing this issue,” says Z. Gemze.
During the meeting, experts unified around the sections and information of the Global Status Report that need to be included to ensure it is effectively usable by anyone in any region of the world, particularly focusing on those countries where drowning is one of the leading external causes of death.
According to WHO data, over the past ten years, more than 2.5 million people have lost their lives due to drowning. Worldwide, drowning is one of the top ten causes of death for children aged 5 to 14 years. Latvia ranks first in Europe for drowning rates per 100,000 inhabitants.
