BACKGROUND AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES: Tobacco is our biggest killer, a leading cause of health inequalities across our poorest communities. Tackling tobacco harm is everyone’s business, there is a clear evidence base for multi-agency working to address this and advocate for further action. However, the evidence is not always widely understood, communicated or applied.
INTERVENTION OR RESPONSE: Since 2005, Fresh, the North East (NE) of England’s tobacco control programme, has worked with a range of partners to embed evidence based practice at a regional and local level through effective tobacco control alliances.

Key strand 1: building infrastructure, skills and capacity, priorities include:

1. Leadership: create a shared vision and provide evidence base for partners to achieve this
2. Collaboration: build and invest in dedicated regional and local infrastructure to tackle tobacco harms
3. Strategy: utilise regional strategy and tailored framework/resources to develop local tobacco control action plans
4. Amplify activity at population level to enhance local delivery e.g. mass media campaigns
5. Influence key decision makers to maintain funding for comprehensive tobacco control
6. Advocate and build support for tobacco policy measures

RESULTS AND IMPACT: Comprehensive regional tobacco control delivery has resulted in a 62% drop in overall smoking in the NE since 2005, the largest of any English region.

Despite political change, austerity and other emerging public health priorities, the NE is the only region in England to maintain multi-agency tobacco control alliances implementing an evidence based approach. Prioritising this key strand has been pivotal to ensure that tobacco control is still viewed as central to addressing health inequalities and has ensured that the whole region is signed up to a declaration for a Smokefree Future.
CONCLUSIONS: This approach can be replicated across any geographical area and demonstrates all sectors have a role to play in delivering tobacco control evidence based activity. It's also a useful model to help address other commercial determinants of health.