Public Health England has been asked to carry out an evidence-based review into the specific health aspects of gambling-related harm to inform action on future prevention and treatment.
This review will be the first of its kind, with experts welcoming the news after “decades of damage and despair”.
The request comes after the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport led a consultation on gaming machines and social responsibility. Its response to the consultation resulted in a package of measures, including reducing the maximum stake on FOBTs from £100 to £2, improving player protections on Category B machines and strengthening player protections, specifically around age verification and identifying risks to players. The consultation also wants to tackle gambling advertisements to protect those most vulnerable.
Public Health England was asked to compile an evidence-based review into gambling-related harms and their social and economic burden. The objectives and structure around this review have been announced, with an expected release date of spring 2020.
Eytan Alexander, managing director of addiction treatment firm UKAT and a former gambling addict, said: “The fact that Public Health England are reviewing gambling-related health harms is incredibly encouraging, as it suggests that the Government are finally sitting up and listening to the relentless cries for help from the gambling treatment community.
“We treat people from all kinds of backgrounds for gambling addictions, and in the last year, we’ve seen a worrying rise in the number of online gambling addicts. Gambling addiction ruins lives; just because it is not a drug doesn’t mean it’s less dangerous and damaging.
“We’re equally as excited by this review as we are cautious; we expect the results to be extremely eye-opening for the Government, and it’ll take real defiance - not to mention financial investment - to implement truly effective preventative and treatment measures needed to protect future generations.”
