The Open Epidemiology Journal

2008, 1 : 36-39
Published online 2008 July 23. DOI: 10.2174/1874297100801010036
Publisher ID: TOEPIJ-1-36

Drowning Rates in the Newly Independent States & Russian Federation: A Call for Research and Action

Huseyin Naci and Timothy D. Baker
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.

ABSTRACT

Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide after road traffic injury deaths, claiming approximately 450,000 lives every year. Overall male drowning rates in the Newly Independent States and Russian Federation are dramatically higher than the rates in Western European countries; the highest male drowning rate in WHO Euro region, drowning rate in Belarus, is 50 times higher than the lowest, the drowning rate in the United Kingdom. 1-4 age group male drowning rate in Turkmenistan is alarmingly high. More research is needed to determine the risk factors of child and adult drowning in each of the Newly Independent States and Russian Federation.

Keywords:

Drowning, Russia, newly independent states, child drowning.