Time to save lives

Theresa Crossley, CEO of the International Maritime Rescue Federation, discusses successfully developing maritime search and rescue across Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 372,000 people drown every year. That means roughly one person drowns every 85 seconds, or more than 40 people around the world drown every hour. Furthermore, the WHO estimates that almost 90 per cent of those drownings occur in the Africa and Asia-Pacific regions and yet few of those deaths ever make headlines. The number of deaths by drowning therefore goes relatively unnoticed.