Royal Life Saving has announced that it will establish the world’s first International  Drowning Research Centre in Asia this year – with funding from the Australian Government’s Agency for International Development, AusAID.  

Royal Life Saving’s Chief Executive Officer Rob Bradley says child drowning in Asia is absolutely horrific and on a scale that will shock every Australian.   

One child is estimated to drown every 45 seconds in Asia during daylight hours.  Toddlers aged one to four make up half of almost all child drowning deaths in Asia.     

Children in Asia are drowning at up to 20 times the rate of Australian children.  Every year up to 350,000 children drown in Asia. Last year 50 children drowned in Australia.  

Bob McMullan, Australian Government Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance has thrown his support behind the project.

The International Drowning Research Centre will be based in Bangladesh at the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research - Bangladesh but its impact will span south Asia.  It will be formally launched in the coming months. 

The Australian Government’s support has helped create the centre which will build the scientific evidence to show that drowning can be prevented in developing countries. The centre will focus on key research projects aimed at reducing child drowning in each of the key life stages; preschool, school aged and adolescents. The findings and programs will be used to help build skills across the region to prevent drowning.

The Australian community has warmly recieved this annoucenment.

Justin Scarr - Chair - ILS Child Drowning Committee

The conference organisers welcome contributions to this news facility. Please email all contributions to jscarr@rlssa.org.au