European Doctors Call Gambling Major Public Health Problem

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Ana Isabel

unread,

Jun 1, 2026, 7:17:37 AM (yesterday) Jun 1

to OFFICIO e Ambiente - Inovar

"A group representing 1.7 million doctors in 36 European countries has called for gambling to be treated as a significant, growing, and urgent public health issue that requires immediate action.

The Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME), which represents national medical associations to EU policymakers, wants:

• a total ban on gambling advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (including online, especially related to sports and cultural activities);

• a harmonization of national gambling regulations in European countries;

• a review of the health and social impacts and addictive qualities of gambling and gaming; and

• more strictly enforced protections for minors, among other measures.

Mounting evidence about the harms associated with gambling addiction and gambling disorders has prompted the statement, Ray Walley, MB BcH, professor of general practice at University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, and treasurer of the CPME, told Medscape News Europe. “People are coming into the general practice waiting rooms with mental health issues because they are in so much debt and find it difficult to control the urge,” he said. Many of them have suicidal tendencies, he added.

A Swedish study found that patients with a gambling disorder were 15 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Problem gambling among adolescents, particularly girls, is rising. Among adults, 5.5% of women and 11.9% of men experience any risk gambling (defined as occasional experience of at least one behavioral symptom or adverse consequence from gambling), according to The Lancet Public Health Commission on gambling. Patients who progress to a gambling disorder (80 million people worldwide) often have comorbid addictions to drugs and alcohol. European states and the EU have a responsibility to protect the public against gambling just as they protect against other addictions, Walley added.

[...]."