By Terin Frodyma on SwimSwam
The CDC has put an abrupt stop to its drowning prevention program, according to a report by NPR. The removal of the program comes after the team of health scientists was placed on administrative leave in April. This is included in a series of cuts that have progressively disbanded the CDC’s Division of Injury Prevention. The decision to terminate the program has left public health officials flustered, as drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4. We touched on this topic in an article in June.
In April, approximately 200 positions within the CDC were associated with the division and injury prevention; the cut reduced that number down to less than 15.
The CDC’s work on water safety and drowning prevention was among the programs eliminated as a result of the reduced nationwide budget for the CDC that was ordered by Congress and the administration, in an effort to narrow the agency’s focus on infectious diseases.
Drowning accounts for roughly 4,000 deaths each year, just under 11 per day. There are also 22 non-fatal drownings per day, according to the Red Cross.
The federal government played a substantial role in the efforts to reduce those numbers by providing the necessary funds for local programs and the upkeep of national data tracking systems for trends in order to gauge outcomes.
“If this program saved one life, it would be far more than the total cost of the program,” said Jim Mercy, former director of the Division of Violence Prevention at the CDC, to NPR.
Drowning is the leading cause of death in children ages 1-4, and 2nd in ages 5-14 according to the Red Cross.
The program was established following the pandemic, where between 2020-2022 the drowning rate of children 1-4 rose 28% compared to 2019 (per the NDPA). Even through the age of 55, drowning is still a top four cause of unintentional death.
“After the pandemic, quite a few organizations came together to drive some possibilities of federally focused work on drowning prevention,” said Lindsay Mondick, who is the director of aquatic strategy and quality practices for the YMCA of the USA. The conjunction with the CDC provided data science and further programming for drowning prevention and water safety.
The YMCA, Red Cross, and National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention, among others, worked with the CDC to help collect and analyze data, and provide learn to swim programs.
The partnership between the CDC and the YMCA resulted in funding for thousands of children to receive free swim instruction who were at a higher risk of drowning, including minority groups and those on the autism spectrum.
According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, drownings cost the U.S. economy over $50 billion each year.
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