THE drowning death toll has doubled compared to the same period in 2011.
And the Fiji Water Safety Council says this number is "incredibly high".
The council said this was because of the lack of funds and ability to reach out to communities and to create awareness of drowning prevention in water safety measures.
The latest victim, a six-year-old boy from Naviyago in Lautoka who drowned over the weekend, brings the death toll to 51 compared to 25 for the same period last year.
The council revealed that in previous years two or three drownings were reported per month. However, since last year the figures have gone up to five and six cases reported monthly.
Last night, a meeting between stakeholders including the police, the Red Cross, Fiji Surfing Association and health and education ministries was to have discussed a collective approach to tackle this problem. The meeting aimed to determine when the council would deploy a team to villages to conduct training for villagers.
Police spokeswoman Ana Naisoro said they were worried and saddened when drowning could have been avoided with repeated advisories and warnings.
"We have tried our best to raise awareness but it seems to be falling on deaf ears," she said.
"We continue training our own officers in water safety to be deployed in times when our beaches and water activities are high.
"But most of the cases occurring are those where we can't be present and this is where we expect better informed decisions to be made on the part of those going out swimming, especially in the case of children who are to be closely supervised at all times."
Ms Naisoro said a large number of drowning incidents occurred during the floods early this year. However, the majority of these cases were simply put down to the lack of supervision, particularly of young children living near rivers and creeks.