A shocking 448.7 million adults globally grapple with the personal, social, or health consequences of gambling, with around 80 million of them experiencing severe gambling disorders, according to a recent report by the Lancet Public Health Commission

The report estimates that  gambling disorder could affect 15·8% of the adults and 26·4% of the adolescents who gamble using online casino or slot products, and 8·9% of the adults and 16·3% of adolescents who do this using sports betting products.

The Commission, however, estimates these numbers likely to be conservative. 

Online casino and online sports betting are two of the most rapidly expanding areas for commercial gambling globally, the report reveals..

Commercial gambling, the report points out,  is not just associated with financial losses, but is also associated with physical and mental health problems, relationship and family breakdown, heightened risk of suicide and domestic violence, increased crime, and loss of employment. 

The impact is not spread evenly through populations though. Specific groups face an elevated risk of harm. These include children and adolescents who are routinely exposed to advertising of gambling products in ways that were unprecedented before the digital revolution. In addition, gambling is often embedded into the architecture of video games, the report highlights.

The Commission has called for stronger global controls to mitigate the effects of gambling on public health and well-being.

“We need to take action to protect children from the harms of gambling,” Dr Kristiana Siste, Commissioner, the Universitas Indonesia, said. “We know that early exposure to gambling increases the risk of developing gambling disorders later in life, and children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the allure of easy money and the game-like designs of online gambling.”

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