Shaping global strategy, mobilising for local action: reflections from the World Conference on Drowning Prevention 2023.

Drowning is a significant cause of preventable mortality and morbidity and has been described as a serious, preventable and neglected public health challenge. Amid building momentum for drowning prevention, most notably with recent United Nations and World Health Assembly Declarations, researchers, policymakers and practitioners convened at the World Conference on Drowning Prevention (WCDP) 2023 under the conference theme of 'shaping a global strategy - mobilizing for local action'. In this special feature, we reflect on the outcomes of the WCDP 2023.

A framework for identifying opportunities for multisectoral action for drowning prevention in health and sustainable development agendas: a multimethod approach.

Introduction: The 2023 World Health Assembly resolution 76.18 committed the World Health Organization to the coordination of drowning prevention efforts, including those of United Nations (UN) agencies. Here, we aim to map drowning prevention linkages across UN Agency agendas, make recommendations to guide global strategies and inform the development of the Global Alliance and a Global Strategy for drowning prevention.

Conceptual definition for drowning prevention: a Delphi study.

Background: Expanding support for drowning prevention is evidenced by interlinked Resolutions at the United Nations (2021) and World Health Assembly (2023). While progress has accelerated, a universally agreed definition for drowning prevention remains absent. Here, we aim to develop a conceptual definition of drowning prevention using the Delphi method.

Identifying strategic priorities for advancing global drowning prevention: a Delphi method.

Introduction: The burden of drowning is gaining prominence on the global agenda. Two United Nations system resolutions in 3 years reflect rising political support, but priorities remain undefined, and the issue lacks a global strategy. We aimed to identify strategic priorities for advancing global drowning prevention using a modified Delphi method.

Lessons learned through the 20-year development of a national fatal drowning database in Australia.

Background: Co-ordinated, evidence-based policy and programmatic efforts are needed to respond to complex drowning prevention problems. Comprehensive, current, and robust data are vital for agenda setting, burden and risk factor identification, intervention design and evaluation, as well as setting policy. We aim to record methods used in, and identify impacts of, the development of a national fatal drowning database (NFDD) in Australia, including lessons learned across research, policy, and practice.

Identifying opportunities for multisectoral action for drowning prevention: a scoping review.

Background: Drowning is a complex health issue, where global agendas call for greater emphasis on multisectoral action, and engagement with sectors not yet involved in prevention efforts. Here, we explored the conceptual boundaries of drowning prevention in peer-review and grey literature, by reviewing the contexts, interventions, terminologies, concepts, planning models, and sector involvement, to identify opportunities for multisectoral action.

Methods: We applied scoping review method and have reported against Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews checklist.

Tracing the emergence of drowning prevention on the global health and development agenda: a policy analysis.

Drowning has been a neglected health issue, largely absent from the global health and development discourse, until the UN General Assembly adopted its first resolution on global drowning prevention in 2021. This policy analysis examines the role of issue characteristics, actor power, ideas, and political contexts in the emergence of drowning prevention, and it also identifies opportunities for future actions. We identified three factors crucial to enhancing prioritisation: (1) methodological advancements in population-representative data and evidence for effective interventions; (2) reframing drowning prevention in health and sustainable development terms with an elevated focus on high burdens in low-income and middle-income contexts; and (3) political advocacy by a small coalition.

Drowning prevention: turning the tide on a leading killer.

Drowning is a leading killer, particularly of children and young adults, yet has been greatly neglected. Despite accounting for a higher number of deaths than many other substantial public health issues, drowning has not benefitted from the targeted attention it requires, which is particularly tragic because low cost and effective drowning prevention interventions exist. Therefore, the recent UN General Assembly's adoption of a resolution on global drowning prevention is a historic first, and offers an exciting opportunity by providing a comprehensive framework and a practical roadmap that a range of actors and sectors, including governments, can follow to address the challenge of drowning prevention.

Analysis of fatal unintentional drowning in Australia 2008-2020: implications for the Australian Water Safety Strategy.

Objective: To examine temporal trends in drowning in Australia against targets set in the Australian Water Safety Strategy (AWSS) 2008-2020 and to inform the development of the next iteration of the Strategy.

Methods: A national analysis of unintentional fatal drowning rates per 100,000 population over 16 years (2004/05-2019/20) was conducted. Baseline rates (three-year average 2004/05-2006/07) were compared to the current three-year average (2017/18-2019/20) by sex, age group, drowning location and jurisdiction.

Mapping Trends in Drowning Research: A Bibliometric Analysis 1995-2020.

Drowning is public health issue requiring global, national and community responses. The multisectoral nature of drowning prevention reinforces the need for multidisciplinary research, which can play a key role in identifying patterns, factors and interventions and contributes to evidence-informed prevention. This study presents a biometric analysis of drowning research published in 1995-2020 and identifies temporal trends in research themes, journals, countries and authorship to assist in the planning of future research.