An estimated number of 1,360 people die through submersion in and inhalation of water in Ghana annually according to research.
The Public Health department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), made the disclosure from a survey it conducted.
The study, which aims to establish the availability of drowning data in existing national and district-level data sources was based on a study of 52 districts.
The data was collected through individual interviews at the community household level in 52 out of 260 districts from January 2019 to December 31, 2021.
In both cases, males dominated, which was nearly four times higher than females.
The death of males stood at 935 representing 82 per cent while females recorded at 175 representing 15 per cent.
The study again found that adults 20 to 34 years and young children under 5 were at the highest risk.
The children between 0 to 4 years of age most frequently died in water/septic tanks, pits and wells while children and adolescents from 5 to 14 years of age and 15 to 19 years of age often occurred in rivers.
Speaking to Akoma News at a stakeholder event in the Kwabre East Municipality, Cara Aidoo, the Ashanti regional supervisor for Performance Monitoring for Advance at the department of Public Health at the KNUST urged Ghanaians to protect and prevent children from drowning.
She also advocates for a community swimming rescue training team as part of the response to drowning incidents.
According to the study’s findings, the Ministry of Education should include a subject in the curriculum to teach students about drowning and how to stay safe from water.
The purpose of the stakeholders engagement was to digest the finding of the research in relation to drowning in Ghana and measures to curb it.
Kurugu – UE/R: 6-year-old boy drowns during a fishing expedition