In recent years, Viet Nam has taken bold steps toward combating the alarming issue of child drowning. In 2021, the Prime Minister issued a comprehensive 10-year program on Child Injury Prevention for 2021-2030. This groundbreaking policy was recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the five global highlights in drowning prevention. Since then, Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) has collaborated closely with the Ministry of Education and Training to include survival swimming and water safety education within the educational system. At the end of 2024, the Prime Minister approved a National Program on strengthening child drowning in educational system from 2025- 2035, reinforcing the government’s commitment and sustainable investment for child drowning.
Ambitious Targets for 2030 and Beyond
The National Program outlines the long- term ambitious, measurable goals, which will create transformative change, ensuring tangible progress in child drowning prevention.
70% of students will be trained in water safety skills by 2030 and 90% by 2035.
At least 55% of students in grade five and 65% of students in grade nine will be able to swim by 2030. These figures will increase to 70% and 80% of students respectively by 2035.
At least 20% of primary schools and 15% secondary schools have swimming pools by 2030 and will increase by 30% and 25% by 2035, respectively.
Local governments must secure significant investment to mobilize the community swimming pools for child survival swim program.
All primary and secondary schools must invest in the capacity strengthening of their teachers and health staff on drowning first aid and be certified to teach swimming lessons.
Tackling Challenges: Comprehensive Strategies for Success
The National Program will address challenges to ensure the success of its program through the following solutions.:
Inclusion of child drowning skills into the compulsory curriculum of life skills and physical training for all students ages 6-18.
Financial investment for survival swim program though the subsidy policies for infrastructure investment, public and private partnership for building and utilizing school swimming pools and the release of cost norms for swim lessons.
Capacity strengthening in first aid for school teachers and health staff and standardized learning resources for comprehensive educational settings.
GHAI is pleased to continue its strong partnership with the Vietnamese Government and lead ministries to implement this comprehensive National Program, which will save lives and positively contribute to the well-being of Vietnamese children.
Master training for survival swim for teachers, conducted by GHAI and Ministry of Education and Training in 2024
You're invited to celebrate the graduation of the 2025-2026 cohort of the CSO Budget Advocacy Accelerator: September 15, 2026 at 9:00 AM ET | 2:00 PM UTC. RSVP here.
Ahead of the ceremony, here's a look at what this cohort achieved.
Over 10 months, GHAI's Advocacy Accelerator strengthened the capacity of 12 civil society organizations (CSOs) from 11 countries across Africa and Asia to influence domestic health financing, combining hands-on learning, expert mentorship and peer exchange. Through capstone projects spanning cardiovascular health, drowning prevention, health security, mental health, road safety and tobacco control, this cohort achieved concrete results.
On April 20th, Joyous Ampurire and her daughter, Witness Akansasira, drowned when a canoe capsized on Lake Bunyonyi. Their deaths were deeply personal to one family, but the questions they raise are national. What makes a journey on Uganda's waters safer? Who is responsible for reducing risk? And what must change before another family carries the same loss?
