Summer can be a fun time for children with more free time and outdoor activities. Summer breaks are the time witnessing an increase in child injuries, even fatalities.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control, the southern metropolis recorded over 19,000 injuries in children aged 0-16 years in 2023. Of these, more than 8,000 accidents occurred at home. In Vietnam, the death rate from injuries is up to 11 percent, second only to cardiovascular diseases (with 18 percent) and infectious diseases (with 15 percent).
Currently, students across the country are enjoying their children at home alone. In fact, at any age, leaving young children at home alone is a risky choice and carries many risks. Therefore, to prevent the risk of injuries in children, the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control recommends parents and caregivers instruct children in safety skills.
Accordingly, parents need to guide their children on how to prevent common accidents such as electric shock, fire and explosion, how to handle wounds and burns and seek help from relatives Parents need to leave the phone numbers of parents and relatives or ask neighbors to watch the house.
Statistics from the Department of Environmental Health Management under the Ministry of Health show that each year, an average of more than 370,000 children are injured, of which the age group 15-19 has the highest proportion, followed by the age group 5-14 years old, the lowest in the group from 0 to 4 years old.
The number of children who died from injuries is 6,600 cases a year, accounting for 35.5 percent of the total number of children who died nationwide from all causes. In particular, each year Vietnam records about 2,000 children dying of drowning.
