The Institute of Public in Ireland has recently published a short paper on the public health issues surrounding gambling in Ireland that has wider international relevance.
Key findings that I'd like to share are:
- Participation in gambling can be seen as a continuum from those who do not participate at all to those who are addicted.
- Gambling can negatively affect significant areas of a person’s life, including mental and physical health, employment, finances and relationships with others.
- Only a small proportion of those who gamble run into difficulty but for those who do there is a ripple effect with implications for family and community health and wellbeing.
- Adopting a population based screening tool for gambling can help to understand and determine the extent of gambling in society.
- A population approach is required to understand the prevalence of problem gambling, minimise harm including potential social costs and protect vulnerable groups.
- Adolescent gambling is thought to be 2-3 times the rate of adults.
- From an economic perspective, evidence suggests that the health and social costs of problem gambling exceed government revenue gained from gambling taxes and businesses.
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