London, Oct 25: A Lancet Public Health Commission report has warned that gambling poses a growing worldwide threat to public health, with its rapid expansion via mobile phones and the internet harming far more people than previously thought.
The commission has urged policymakers to treat gambling as a public health issue, just as we treat other addictive and unhealthy commodities such as alcohol and tobacco.
About 450 million people have at least one behavioural symptom or have experienced a harmful personal, social or health consequence of gambling, the 45-page report from the Lancet public health commission on gambling found.
Of those, at least 80 million people suffer from gambling disorder, a mental health condition identified by a pattern of repeated and continuous betting despite negative consequences on a person’s life. The estimates of the numbers experiencing significant harm to their health as a result of gambling are likely to be conservative, the experts said.
These included adolescents and younger children who were routinely exposed to advertising of gambling products in ways that were unprecedented before the digital revolution, the report found.
Online casino and online sports betting are two of the most rapidly expanding areas for commercial gambling globally, the report found.
A systematic review and meta analysis conducted for the commission estimated that gambling disorder affected 15.8% of adults and 26.4% of adolescents who used online casino or slot products, and 8.9% of adults and 16.3% of adolescents who gambled using sports betting products.
Commercial gambling is clearly associated with financial losses and the risk of financial ruin, but it is also associated with physical and mental health problems, relationship and family breakdown, heightened risk of suicide and domestic violence, increased crime against property and people, and loss of employment, the experts concluded.
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