Nile Swimmers work to prevent drowning in Africa.
In the Global Report on Drowning, the World Health Organisation stated that:
"Drowning is a serious and neglected public health threat claiming the lives of 372000 people a year worldwide. More than 90% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. This death toll is almost two thirds that of malnutrition and well over half that of malaria – but unlike these public health challenges, there are no broad prevention efforts that target drowning."
"Once someone starts to drown, the outcome is often fatal. Unlike other injuries, survival is determined almost exclusively at the scene of the incident, and depends on two highly variable factors: how quickly the person is removed from the water, and how swiftly proper resuscitation is performed. Prevention, therefore, is vital. "
We teach people how to keep their communities safe around water.
We do this by:
Providing Training
Nile Swimmers provides training programmes in Sudan and other low and middle income countries. This training includes water safety messages and the rescue and resuscitation skills that are vital for developing sustainable long-term drowning prevention at a community scale.
Building Partnerships
Nile Swimmers builds strategic partnerships with charitable groups, government ministries, businesses and other organisations to ensure that the right drowning prevention strategy is delivered in the right way across different communities. This allows us to reach diverse audiences including mothers, school children, refugees, pool managers and search and rescue professionals in low and middle income countries.
Conducting Research
Nile Swimmers is working with the public health departments at several Sudanese universities to identify the epidemiology of drowning and to understand the effectiveness of drowning prevention methods in low and middle income countries. We work with other researchers in this field to raise awareness of the need for more high-quality research and the application of best practice based on this research.
Providing a low resource perspective to international working groups
Nile Swimmers supports the campaign for international recognition of drowning as a leading cause of childhood death globally. We work closely with drowning prevention experts and activists around the world to drive the development of appropriate drowning prevention programmes in low and middle income countries. We collaborate with other organisations and individuals to ensure a coordinated approach to drowning prevention that is based on best practice.
