The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced an updated technical package with seven interventions with proven effectiveness to support governments and communities in reducing the nearly 300,000 drowning deaths that occur each year on the planet. Among the central proposals are the strengthening of swimming education and the improvement of flood preparedness.
"The seven PROTECT strategies offer countries practical and evidence-based approaches to prevent these tragedies, such as improving the safety of water transport, teaching schoolchildren to swim, and preparing for floods. Drowning prevention is not the responsibility of a single ministry; it concerns us all, and the lives it saves are the reward," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Coinciding with World Drowning Prevention Day, which is commemorated on July 25, WHO has detailed these seven lines of action, integrated under the acronym PROTECT, which transform the vision of the first Global Strategy for Drowning Prevention into concrete and applicable policy guidelines. This strategy was presented by the Global Alliance for Drowning Prevention, driven by WHO, in 2025.
The PROTECT framework offers public officials specific recommendations backed by science in seven interrelated fields to strengthen safety in aquatic environments. Among the objectives is to promote physical infrastructures that favor a safe relationship with water; increase rescue and resuscitation capacity among citizens and professional emergency teams, and improve labor protection for those who work near water.
Additionally, the measures include tightening safety standards in water transport, along with promoting basic training in swimming and water safety. The package also prioritizes strengthening childcare systems, protecting minors from water-related risks, and enhancing preparedness for threats such as floods and other multi-risk emergencies.
Launch of the PROTECT program in Ghana
According to the WHO, the initial deployment of PROTECT takes place in Ghana, in recognition of the country's growing political commitment to drowning prevention and its continued efforts to improve safety in aquatic environments. In this African country, it is estimated that around 1,100 people drown each year, with a particularly high impact on the child and youth population, which represents about three deaths daily.
"This launch highlights Ghana's growing leadership in addressing this preventable tragedy and underscores the need for other governments to adopt evidence-based policies that reduce drowning deaths and protect at-risk communities," emphasizes the WHO.
The implementation of the program is supported by more than ten years of joint work between the WHO, various governments, and allied organizations to promote, on a global scale, drowning prevention interventions based on scientific evidence.
"This framework will save lives and, at the same time, will consolidate the progress that governments around the world are achieving to prevent drowning deaths in their countries," stated the director of the public health program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, Kelly Henning.
Since 2014, Bloomberg Philanthropies has collaborated with the WHO in the area of drowning prevention, supporting the development of key resources that have guided international best practices in this type of intervention, including the PROTECT technical package itself.