Every year, we hear about tragic drowning deaths in our community. Young friends swimming unsupervised, those who have overestimated their abilities, and those who have risked their lives to save them, often with tragic results. The Centers for Disease Control says 4500 people lost their lives as a result of drowning each year between 2020 and 2022, a 10% uptick since 2019. And globally, the number is stunning; 235,000 lives are lost annually. Bloomberg Philanthropies has stepped up to address that need stateside and internationally. Their total investment of $60M also includes anti-drowning efforts in Uganda, Ghana, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and India.
Kelly Larson, Injury Prevention Lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies, says, “The increase in drowning deaths in the United States, as well as drowning being the leading cause of death among 1-4 year-olds, led us to expand our investment to include drowning, prevention efforts here.” The focus will be on data collection in the ten states that make up half of the drowning tragedies: Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Larson points out that children under five are at the highest risk of drowning. In the U.S., they have focused their swim education efforts on an older demographic. “In the United States, we plan to provide swim instruction to 20,000 children ages 6-15, being very diligent in identifying local organizations who can offer swim lessons to those who need it most,” the Prevention Lead says. “Bloomberg Philanthropies will support the CDC Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to work in select, high-burden states to provide basic swim and water safety skills instruction in most affected populations. We are working with local organizations in these communities to offer the lessons.”
The $60M investment is expected to fund programs globally through 2027. “As part of this commitment, we are also evaluating safety policies, including pool fencing and personal flotation devices here in the United States, to see how we may advocate for stronger laws,” Larson says. “We recognize that drowning is the leading cause of death for 1-4-year-olds and want to take a hard look at some of the drowning prevention policies in each state. We want to understand better what policies are in place and identify opportunities to strengthen policies that will reduce drowning.”
