Drowning by numbers: Malta among world’s safest nations
James Debono Despite a spate of fatal maritime accidents in recent months, statistics show that Malta registers one of the lowest rate of deaths attributed to accidental drowning in Europe.
Mediterranean Malta and Italy rank along landlocked Luxemburg, the colder United Kingdom and polar Iceland in registering the lowest levels of death caused by accidental drowning (SDR) according to a 2005 European wide study entitled “Drowning-related deaths in an enlarged European Union”.
In these countries deaths by accidental drowning amount to a per capita rate of 0.2-0.7 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants.
The highest rates of accidental drowning were observed in the eastern European countries in Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and Estonia, which had more than five fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants.
The study showed that an overwhelming 25% of European-wide cases of accidental drowning occurred among the elderly (65 years-old and more).
This could be a cause of concern for Malta which attracts a significant amount of elderly tourists.
Another study conducted by the European network for Safety among the Elderly shows that accidental drowning accounts for 1,800 deaths annually among elderly persons in 33 European states, which makes drowning the fifth leading cause of injury death among people 65 and older.
But once again Malta registers the second lowest rate of accidental drowning among the elderly.
The study shows Iceland, UK, Malta and Germany reporting the lowest rates of accidental drowning among the elderly whereas Lithuania, Greece and Latvia the highest rates.
On the other hand Malta registered a higher rate of deaths by accidental drowning among young people and children aged under 19. Malta is ranked ninth place among the EU 27 with a rate of 1.15 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
With just 0.31 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the UK emerges as the safest. With a rate of 7.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, latvia was the least safe.
A total of 6,156 deaths from accidental drowning were observed in the European Union in 2005, which represented 3.4% of deaths due to external causes.
World Health Organisation statistics show Malta in 44th place (out of 61) in the world rankings for deaths caused by both accidental and non-accidental drownings.
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