Drowning kills more than 4,000 people each year in the United States. It is the leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 4, and one of the top causes of death for children ages 5 to 14. Despite these sobering statistics, the CDC’s drowning prevention team — which employed just three health scientists on a $2 million annual budget — was put on administrative leave in April and formally terminated in August 2025.
The program had been working closely with partner organizations including the YMCA and the Red Cross to collect data and evaluate what drowning prevention strategies actually work. A key focus was providing free swim lessons to children at high risk — including children from minority communities and those on the autism spectrum, who are statistically 160 times more likely to drown than their peers.
Jim Mercy, former director of the Division of Violence Prevention at the CDC, called the cut deeply counterproductive: “If this program saved one life, it would be far more than the total cost of the program.” Drowning costs the U.S. economy more than $50 billion annually, and the condition is largely preventable.
The loss of the program is particularly impactful for smaller communities. As Jennifer Pewitt of the YMCA in Dallas noted, the CDC funding was helping local branches serve kids who would otherwise go without water safety education. The administration has proposed eliminating the program entirely in its fiscal year 2026 budget.
At Emma’s Project, we believe every child deserves the chance to learn water safety. The elimination of federally funded drowning research makes the work of community organizations like ours more important than ever. Read the full story at NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/08/27/nx-s1-5509976/drowning-prevention-program-halt-cdc