By Patience Gbeze
Accra, July 26, GNA – Mr Eric Nana Agyeman Prempeh, the Director General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), has called on Ghanaians to abide by the safety measures to prevent drowning in the country.
He said in Ghana and Africa at large, drowning in poor communities remained a silent epidemic and pledged NADMO’s resolve to addressing the menace through advocacy, development of robust water safety policies, and emergency response systems, among other measures.
“Many Ghanaians have an interest in general recreational swimming as the country has numerous water-rich environments,” a statement signed by Mr Prempeh said.
The statement, issued to observe this year’s World Drowning Prevention Day, said drowning incidents occurred year-round in Ghana, yet knowledge and education on it was limited.
This year’s theme is: “Do One Thing to Prevent Drowning”.
It said Ghana was not developed in water safety and there was little data on drowning due to factors such as underdeveloped coastal communities, tragic nature of drowning in communities, and poor surveillance systems in many locations where drowning occurred.
“The Volta Basin, which is the home to 52 communities and the Gulf of Guinea, which is also home for four regions – Western, Central, Greater Accra, and Volta, have become hotspots for drowning as a result of direct and indirect causes,” the statement said.
“While drowning deaths are frequently reported in the newspapers, data on drowning deaths are not organised, systematically, to form sufficient evidence for scientific investigation”.
The statement lauded the just-ended novel national survey on drowning in Ghana by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the Centre for Disease Control with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
It expressed the hope that the survey would become a baseline upon which other researchers could build.
The statement catalogued numerous drownings in the country and urged all stakeholders to act now to save lives and create a positive world for all children around water rich communities.
“Let us all do one thing to prevent drowning on this World Drowning Prevention Day and every day thereafter.”
GNA