Status of drowning in Nepal: A study of central police data.

Background:  Drowning is a serious and mostly preventable injury-related cause of death. Low-and-middle income countries represent 90% of total drowning deaths worldwide. There is lack of epidemiological studies of drowning in Nepal. The aim of this paper is to describe the status of drowning in Nepal. Methods: Cases of drowning, occurring between January 2013 and December 2015 were extracted from the Daily Incident Recording System of Nepal Police. Variables on age, sex of the deceased, types of water bodies, places, season when drowning occurred and activities of deceased were extracted and descriptive analysis was done. Results: A total of 1,507 drowning cases were recorded over a 3 year period. The rate of drowning was 1.9 per 100,000 (2.95 for males and 0.92 for females). Majority of drowning occurred among males (76%) and more than half were (53%) under 20 years of age. Mostly drowning occurred in rivers (natural water bodies). The findings provide strong indication that drowning occurs throughout the year in Nepal. Children were highly vulnerable to drowning. The magnitude of drowning was found to be lower than estimated by global burden of disease (GBD) study. Conclusion: The burden of drowning in Nepal is considerable, but mostly unknown to the public. Despite only having access to a limited data source, this study provides useful evidence that comprehensive research in Nepal is needed urgently.