46 children die of drowning in BD a day

Approximately 46 children die every day due to drowning in Bangladesh with yearly death toll around 17,000, a UNICEF study says.
A report in the Health Ministry's bulletin of 2013 also says that cases of drowning of children between the ages of 1 to 18 top the chart. In 2012, it was 22.7 per cent while 22.8 per cent in 2011.
The result of the survey came against a backdrop of alarming statistics showing one among four children die of drowning in Bangladesh. Incidents of drowning increase during floods. Eighty-seven per cent of such deaths take place when vast areas of the country are submerged by flood waters.
A research, conducted by The Alliance for Safe Children (TASC) in collaboration with UNICEF's Office of Research in Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, finds that in these countries, one of every four child deaths, between the ages of one to four, are due to drowning - more than the number who die from measles, polio, whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria and tuberculosis combined.
It also states that the cost of preventing drowning among children is no more expensive than intervention for these diseases. The survey was carried out among children aged between 1 and 17.
However, such premature deaths can easily be brought down with minor steps like building awareness and a bit of swimming training.
According to an independent survey of the UNICEF, creating social awareness, giving training to swim and installing bamboo-fences around ponds can significantly reduce deaths by drowning.
The experts, however, felt that increased parental awareness, capacity building of parents, effective social and family security, lessons in swimming, etc could bring down the mortality rate.
Although these deaths occur throughout the year, its incidence is highest during monsoon. The chance of such deaths increases with the proximity of water bodies to the household.