Barking and Dagenham
If you live in Barking and Dagenham you are more likely to be ill with a long-
Inequalities in health
Links between social and economic deprivation and ill health are well established. The poorer you are the more likely you are to experience ill health and, in crude statistical terms, to die at a younger age. The most recent independent inquiry into inequalities in health, chaired by Sir Donald Acheson found that:
‘Although average mortality has fallen over the past 50 years, unacceptable inequalities in health persist. For many measures of health, inequalities have either remained the same or have widened in recent decades.’
And although some politicians and others would like to link the health gap between rich and poor to purely lifestyle factors, such as differences in diet and smoking, the Acheson report says:
‘The weight of scientific evidence supports a socioeconomic explanation of health inequalities. This traces the roots of ill health to such determinants as income, education and employment as well as to the material environment and lifestyle.’
The health gap between rich and poor is apparent for many of the major causes of death, including coronary heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and suicides among men, and respiratory disease and lung cancer among women.
One way to look at death rates is via the average life expectancy at birth. The difference between men at the top and bottom of the social class scale in the late 1980s was 5 years: you are more likely to live to be 75 years if you are a rich man compared with 70 years if you are poor. For women, the differential was smaller, 80 years compared with 77 years.
Another way to look at rates is by premature mortality, that is death before age 65, which again is higher among people who are unskilled. The difference in death rates between those at the top and bottom of the social scale has actually widened since the early 1970s.
Health statistics
The 2001 census asked questions about chronic (i.e. long-
For cancers of all kinds, the death rate is significantly above average for men, and is higher than other London boroughs. In 2000 Barking and Dagenham had the fifth highest number of men dying from cancer in the country (out of 354 local authorities): over 800 people were diagnosed and over 400 died from cancer2. According to statistics from London Health Observatory, general trends would predict 983 male cancer deaths in the borough between 1998 and 2002; whereas in fact there were 1,187 (the figures for women would be 967 predicted deaths and 1,034 actual deaths). In 15 of the 17 wards in Barking and Dagenham the death rate for cancer amongst men is higher than the national average (see table 1).
As well as higher rates of lung cancer and mesothelioma, Barking and Dagenham has higher rates of breast cancer than the rest of London or England and Wales. The incidence of bladder cancer is also one of the highest in the country. We believe that much of the ill health is caused by the industrial past of the borough and is related to the large numbers of people who have been exposed to asbestos and other industrial toxins.
Table: Cancer rates by council wards
Valence 130.2
Mayesbrook 129.9
Village 125.1
Becontree 122.7
River 117.1
Goresbrook 116.6
Eastbrook 115.3
Heath 113.2
Whalebone 111.0
Gascoigne 110.2
Chadwell Heath 90.7
Abbey 85.5
SMR stands for Standardised Mortality Ratio. It shows the number of deaths observed, compared to those expected, based on what statisticians know about the death rates of a standard population in Great Britain and taking into account the age and sex of the population compared. An SMR of over 100 shows more people dying from cancer than expected, and an SMR of less than 100 means fewer deaths than expected.
Deprived communities have the worst environments
Recent research published by the Environment Agency shows that the most deprived wards in the major urban areas have the worst levels of pollution.
Dagenham MP Jon Cruddas, speaking in a House of Commons debate on regeneration had this to say about the area:
‘Let us consider some of the basic characteristics of the community that I represent.
It is the lowest-