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Australia dives in to help Sri Lanka prevent drowning fatalities
Australia has increased its commitment towards assisting Sri Lanka prevent drowning fatalities, the second most common cause of accidental death after road accidents.
Australian High Commissioner David Holly addressing a recent event held in Colombo to announce the hosting of the 2021 World Conference on Drowning Prevention
Sri Lanka, which recently won the bid to host the 2021 World Conference on Drowning Prevention, counted 825 drowning deaths last year. That is 2.2 fatalities per day. The numbers point to an urgent need for preventive measures. But much has already been done when compared with ten years ago, said Mevan Jayawardena, who is Chief Operating Officer of the Melbourne-headquartered Life Saving Victoria (LSV).
For the past eight years, LSV has sent trainers to Sri Lanka to upgrade the skills of Sri Lankan lifesavers. A team arrived just last month and shared their experience of patrol operations, teaching how to install a set up and conduct lifesaving on a beach. This year, training included inland waterways lifesaving education.
“Unfortunately, we have seen a high statistic of drowning in the country and we want to do as much as we can to educate the community,” said Sheila Langley, lead trainer, who calls Sri Lanka her second home.
In 2009, Sri Lanka had 447,000 international visitors and 850 drowning deaths. Ten years later, the number of international visitors was 2.3 million. The number of domestic tourists also skyrocketed owing to the end of the war and more areas opening up. More waterways were accessible and travel increased. But the number of drowning fatalities remained around the 825 mark.
“Even with millions of Sri Lankan and international visitors, annual drowning deaths reduced on a year-on-year comparison,” Mr Jayawardena said. “It is the work of a whole lot of stakeholders that made it happen.”
A decade ago, there were only 10 permanent lifesaving duty points. By last year, this was up to 100 dedicated lifesaving points. They are manned by members of the community, the military, the police and schools.
Participants at the recent event
There were 200 lifeguards in 2009, certified by Sri Lanka Life Saving (SLLS). By now, there are 2,364 with LSV and other stakeholders still working to increase those numbers.
In 2009, there was some record of 50,000 people in the community being given awareness of lifesaving. These include schoolchildren, office workers and beach workers. Now, more than a million have benefited from these one to two hour sessions on water safety.
“It has taken many stakeholders much commitment to get here,” said Mr Jayawardena. “But we still have a problem in that over 800 drown a year and a lot of children, at that. One of the most important things we have to do is continue this work.”
Those involved locally include the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), many ministries, the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (OCDS), the tri-forces, Sri Lanka Coastguard and Police and SLLS. “This is very significant for drowning prevention and water safety because it takes a lot of stakeholders to do water safety,” Mr Jayawardena said.
The Australian Government is now taking a lead in assisting Sri Lanka in this sphere. At a recent event to announce the hosting of the 2021 World Conference on Drowning Prevention, Australian High Commissioner to Colombo David Holly said Australia will assist the publication this year of Sri Lanka’s second Drowning Prevention and Water Safety Report as well as the development and introduction of a water safety app that provides details of beaches, rivers, lakes and other waterways.
Australia will also support development of water safety guidelines for hotels, schools and public swimming pools and beach safety guidelines to be mandated by relevant authorities. And it will help produce a Swim for Safety Manual that will standardize the teaching curriculum for school children.
“The world of Life Saving Victoria aligns well with our Australian Aid programme’s support of tourism in the Eastern Province, including at Arugam Bay where we have assisted the international certification of male and female surf instructors,” Mr Holly said. “Australia will continue to promote water safety and lifesaving to Government, community, business and international stakeholders.”
Sri Lanka is surrounded by 1,340 kilometers of beach frontage, with an abundance of inland waterways, including rivers, lakes, reservoirs and tanks. Addressing drowning prevention and water safety is a priority for gaining social, economic and tourism benefits from beaches and inland waterways.
A National Drowning Prevention and Water Safety Plan is in the works. It is being executed through the OCDS under the supervision of technical experts–SLLS and LSV. Its full implementation is expected to reduce drowning and drowning-related deaths by ten percent annually. The DMC will coordinate the process collectively with others.
The Plan envisages establishing a national governing body for drowning prevention and water safety; developing and operating a national drowning data surveillance system; formulating a risk profile for beaches and waterways; developing and implementing a National Swim for Safety Programme; establishing and implementing National Beach and Pools Safety Guidelines; establishing volunteer and first responders’ water-related search-and-rescue teams; developing a water safety app; and maximizing economic benefits for tourism through safe water-related activities.