Through this strategy, we aim to secure a smoke free future for all residents of Barking and Dagenham; where the community is free from the harms caused by smoking. We will achieve this by reducing the number of people who are affected by tobacco related harm, and to create a borough where people live long and healthy lives.

Tobacco control remains central to achieving Barking and Dagenham’s purpose and objective – to become a healthy borough. To achieve this objective, we need to remove the burden of ill health as an outcome of smoking.

Our residents are not as healthy as they should be. Compared to other parts of the country they are not living as long, with many dying earlier from cancer, heart disease or other long-term conditions. Tackling the health inequality and the underlying causes is part of a collective responsibility to advance the right to life and to increase life expectancy, taking steps to protect all our residents, particularly children.

At present the smoking prevalence in Barking and Dagenham is 20.4% which equates to approximately 35,337 smokers. This is high compared to the prevalence of smoking in London and England, and it highlights huge inequalities in the borough with smoking contributing to other major health issues.

Each year smoking costs the local economy approximately £52.8 million. To address the health inequalities and reduce the smoking prevalence, we need to reduce the numbers of young people taking up smoking and help existing smokers give up.

This strategy sets out a vision for improving the health and wellbeing of residents and reducing inequalities by implementing a robust and effective tobacco control plan. This will be guided and monitored by the local tobacco control alliance.

LBBD Tobacco harm reduction strategy (PDF, 1.78 MB)