Mission to ‘eradicate scourge of drowning’ after deaths surge across England

England has launched a national strategy to confront what officials are calling a public health disaster: a surge in drowning deaths. The Guardian reports the plan arrived just hours after two women died at an Essex beach, the latest in a run of water-related tragedies. Among the measures under consideration are swimming lessons and water safety education for every child in the country, research into how climate change is raising the risks, and media campaigns teaching bystanders how to respond when someone is in trouble. As the paper frames it, drowning now claims more lives than fire, flooding, or knife crime.

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