Message from WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi
Every year, World Drowning Prevention Day reminds us that hundreds of thousands of lives are lost to drowning worldwide, deaths that are both tragic and preventable. This year, we observe the Day under the theme "Unite to Turn the Tide," a timely call for all of us to strengthen collaboration and accelerate action to save lives.
The world has made encouraging progress. Since 2000, the global drowning death rate has declined by 38%, demonstrating that evidence-based interventions work. Yet more than 300,000 people continue to die from drowning every year, and the African Region continues to bear the highest drowning mortality rate of all WHO regions. WHO estimates indicate that approximately 66,000 people lose their lives to drowning annually across our Region.
Behind these statistics are children who never return home, families whose livelihoods depend on water, communities repeatedly exposed to floods, and people who travel, work or earn their living on rivers, lakes and the sea. Children are particularly affected, accounting for more than half of all drowning deaths in our Region. These losses are not inevitable. They can be prevented through sustained investment, stronger policies and collective action.
Drowning prevention is no longer the responsibility of one sector alone. It requires governments, communities and partners to work together. Health, education, transport, fisheries, maritime authorities, disaster risk management, local government, civil society, academia and the private sector all have an essential role to play. This is precisely what this year's theme calls upon us to do: unite our efforts to turn the tide on drowning.
Across the African Region, encouraging progress is demonstrating what is possible. Tanzania and Uganda are advancing national leadership and strategies for drowning prevention, while Ghana is strengthening regional leadership by championing policy dialogue and collaboration. Mozambique and Nigeria have also committed to strengthening multisectoral coordination to advance drowning prevention. These efforts reflect a growing recognition that preventing drowning is not only a health priority, but also an investment in safer communities, resilient economies and sustainable development.
WHO remains committed to supporting Member States to strengthen governance, improve data and surveillance systems, build national capacity, and scale up the evidence-based interventions that save lives. Together with governments, United Nations agencies, the Global Alliance for Drowning Prevention, civil society organizations, academic institutions and communities, we will continue working to ensure that no one is left behind.
On this World Drowning Prevention Day, I call upon governments to place drowning prevention higher on national public health and development agendas. I urge all sectors to strengthen collaboration, invest in proven interventions, and ensure that those most at risk, especially children and vulnerable communities, are protected.
I also encourage communities and families to take simple but lifesaving actions: supervise children around water, promote swimming and water safety skills, use lifejackets where appropriate, and support safe behaviours around rivers, lakes and coastal waters.
Every drowning death is one too many. By uniting our expertise, our resources and our commitment, we can prevent these needless tragedies.
Together, let us turn the tide so that every person can live, learn, work and travel safely around water.
Additional resources
https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-drowning-prevention-day/2026
https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/unite-to-turn-the-tide-campaign-toolkit/
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240103962
https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n21/106/27/pdf/n2110627.pdf?OpenElement
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240077720
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240046726