Public Health England to carry out gambling-related harm review

Due to be published in Spring 2020, Public Health England has confirmed that it will carry out an evidence-based review into the health implications associated with gambling-related harm.

The review will focus on reviewing current policies relating to gambling-related harms, as well as informing future prevention and treatment efforts.

The health body has been asked to “inform and support action on gambling-related harm as part of the follow up to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport-led review of gaming machines and social responsibility” in its remit letter for 2018 to 2019.

In the remit letter, DCMS confirmed that “PHE will conduct an evidence review of the health aspects of gambling-related harm to inform action on prevention and treatment.”

As part of the review, the National Institute of Health Research has commissioned a research unit at Sheffield University which will review of the effectiveness of both national and international policies and interventions to reduce gambling-related harms.

This will be complemented by a broader evidence-based review, spearheaded by PHE, which will look at the prevalence of gambling and associated health harms and their social and economic burden.

The review will primarily consider the ‘prevalence, determinants and harms associated with gambling, and the social and economic burden of gambling-related harms’ which is hoped will ‘support policy-making and practice aimed at preventing and addressing problem and dependent gambling, and gambling-related harms.’

PHE stated: “We are conducting this evidence review to inform what action we need to take as part of a public health approach to gambling-related harms. We hope that it will support policy-making and practice aimed at preventing and addressing problem and dependent gambling, and gambling-related harms.

“We expect that the research will identify gaps in the evidence base and make recommendations for future research and data collection.”