Public Health England to carry out first-of-its-kind review into gambling-related harm
UK Government commissions health agency to conduct evidence-based review of current treatments
The UK government has asked Public Health England (PHE) to conduct an evidence-based review into the health aspects of gambling-related harm.
The first-of-its-kind review will be asked to examine specific health aspects of gambling-related harm with a view to informing action on future prevention and treatment.
Commissioning of the review follows a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport consultation into proposals for changes to gambling machines and social responsibility measures. This consultation paved the way for the reduction of maximum stakes on fixed odds betting terminals from £100 to £2 earlier this year.
As part of this thematic review, two complementary evidence reviews are being undertaken. The first of these will be a “broader evidence review” on the health, social and economic issues associated with gambling conducted by PHE.
The second, commissioned by the National Institute of Health Research, will be carried out by a research unit from Sheffield University. In this second review, researchers will focus on the effectiveness of national and international policies and interventions to reduce gambling-related harm.
In addition, the review has also been asked to focus on gambling-related advertisements with the aim of protecting at-risk players. The review will publish its first results in Spring 2020.
Eytan Alexander, managing director of addiction treatment firm UKAT, welcomed the review as being “incredibly encouraging” and praised the government for stepping up to address this issue.
“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 preventive and treatment measures needed to protect future generations,” Alexander added.