London, England - On April 25, the UK Gambling Commission launched an initiative that aims to address the problem with gambling and the harm it brings. The initiative, called the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, is a three-year strategy that brings together charities, regulators, health bodies, and businesses to help tackle the issue with gambling harms. This ground-breaking plan focuses on a couple of aspects, which are prevention and education, and treatment and support.
Running from 2019 to 2022, this plan to help reduce gambling related harm will be strictly enforced by the Commission, with an emphasis on the social responsibility of operators and learning more about gambling related harm through intensive research. The primary goal is to gain more understanding into the issue itself and to get to the root of the problem, as well as to find out more about the harm gambling brings not only to an individual but to society as a whole.
The Commission wants to do more than just to find and count problem gamblers in society. It aims to reduce gambling harms by educating people as well as giving them the support and treatment they need. It also looks to review how big the problem is, who it impacts, and how it affects the physical as well as mental state of an individual.
One of the key players in this new strategy is Public Health England (PHE) and they will begin by reviewing the evidence presented on gambling harm in the country. This will entail reviewing how large a scale gambling harms are in the country, how many are affected, and how treating it as a public health issue will work. PHE has been tasked by the government to find out more about this and to do a comprehensive review of the issue.
It has also been noted that problem gambling, depression, stress, and other mental health issues are somewhat linked. These findings will help the Commission come up with a viable solution to the issue and to make faster progress in addressing it. NHS England is playing its part in this initiative by committing to offering an increase in assistance to patients with gambling addiction and gambling problems.
It has also been mentioned that this initiative will need the help of not only these authorities but also of the community as a whole. It is a societal problem that requires everyone to be responsible enough to act in helping those in need and getting them the professional help they require.
For those who want to know more about this initiative and how they can help, a website has been put up for this. This site, www.reducinggamblingharms.org, will also show the progress being made by these government authorities in trying to assess and handle the situation. It will also highlight the priorities of the Commission and everyone involved when it comes to this strategy.
