21 July 2025, Beirut, Lebanon – WHO Lebanon hosted the inaugural national consultation on drowning prevention to present key findings from the Global Status Report on Drowning Prevention and discuss how global evidence can guide national strategies.

Though global drowning deaths declined by 38% between 2000 and 2021, over 300 000 lives were still lost to drowning in 2021. In Lebanon, 36 drowning-related fatalities have already been reported in 2025.

The consultation gathered more than 20 national stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Directorate of Land and Maritime Transport under the Ministry of Transport. Additional participants included representatives from the Internal Security Forces (ISF), Civil Defence, Lebanese Red Cross, the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC), the American University of Beirut (AUB) and national and international non-governmental organizations.

Participants agreed to launch a nationwide public awareness campaign on drowning prevention and expressed commitment to form a national committee to coordinate multisectoral efforts to reduce the number of deaths by drowning.