Gambling is now a major talking issue during this year’s UK Conservative Party leadership election after Minister of health Matt Hancock called for a PS100 million annual levy on gambling firms. If elected premier, Hancock said he intends to introduce a tax of 1% on the profits of these businesses to pay for treatment as well as a study into this issue.
Labour has also pushed for this policy, as well as a revision of the UK Gambling Act. The party has characterized gambling as a “hidden epidemic”, and deputy chief Tom Watson has promised that it will introduce a mandatory tax on the industry when elected to the government.
It’s certainly encouraging to have this issue addressed by politicians who are on the frontline. But imposing a levy is an issue, but using it prudently is a different matter. For the many people impacted by the negative effects of gambling, we must do this the right way.
The ripple effect
Approximately 340,000 problematic gambling addicts are living in the UK and more than half a million people are at risk from the expanding market of goods, especially electronic gaming machines and games played on websites 로즈카지노.
The negative effects of gambling problems are felt by communities, families, and society in general. Along with financial issues, there are also breakups in relationships, neglect or abuse of children and partners, as well, and in some extreme instances suicide – and the associated stress on health and social services.
For every person suffering from issues, it is estimated that 5-10 sufferers are also affected. Cost estimates for the UK only range between PS200m to PS1.2 billion annually. The Faculty of Public Health has declared this to be a “serious and worsening public health issue”.
In Australia in a country where evidence-based practice is more established and the burden of health and well-being is believed to be similar to that of alcohol abuse. From a financial perspective, it is costing societies more to ignore the harms as opposed to addressing these issues.
A few years ago, in Australia’s state of Victoria, For instance, the total tax revenue generated for betting totaled AU$1.6 billion (PS874m) while the estimated social expenses were estimated at 7 billion dollars, an unrealized deficit that was AU$5.4 billion.
The funding gap
In the UK the current system of funding research, education, and the treatment of gambling-related injuries is based on the voluntary contributions of industry to a charity organization, GambleAware. In many cases, GambleAware has a hard time meeting its goal of donating less than 0.1 percent of the amount that the industry keeps after bets have been made which is known as gross yield. This is about PS10m in contributions to an industry that’s gross gambling yield is greater than PS14 billion. In this case, the possibility of a PS100m annual levy would surely make a significant impact.
While Hancock’s promise to support research and treatment is a welcome gesture but he doesn’t any mention of prevention. This is a pity, considering that any effort to limit gambling-related harms must consider the causes and not just the effects. The fact that prevention is superior to cure is well-known across different areas of health care. This is also an issue of social justice as gamblers tend to be poorer than those who live in the most impoverished regions.
In the UK during 2017-18 the overall expenditure through GambleAware for prevention was just PS1.5m that’s around 2p per head. Compare this with a country that treats gambling as a health issue for the public and in New Zealand, for instance with harm reduction being a lawful obligation The total annual expenditure for preventive measures is greater than 18 million dollars (PS9.3m) for an estimated number in the range of 4.7 million. That’s nearly 99 times more per person than in the UK.
Prevention requires laws to limit advertisements, specifically the personalized marketing we see everywhere through social media. We must be more vigilant regarding promotions and incentives such as special deals as well as “free” bets and put an end to the use of credit cards online.
We need stricter regulations regarding the creation and placement of gambling products. This was recently seen with high-stakes machines, but gambling companies have already found ways to circumvent the rules by using various machines.
Prevention also involves identifying those who are in danger. This type of approach isn’t well developed in the field of gambling therefore we should make investments in research to discover the best practices, who benefits, and in what conditions. It is also important to be promoted by health promotion campaigns to raise awareness.
Optimizing the system
There are other crucial factors to consider. First, the funds from the levy have to be secured. The experience of other jurisdictions like Ontario, Canada shows that when funds are not secured, they can be taken up by federal healthcare budgets. There have been precedents for such a thing in the UK as all the funds generated by the tax on sugar are devoted to sports at schools for example, and in the coming year, the bulk portion of Highways England budget will be protected by the road duty.
Treatment, prevention, and education All of these must be anchored by solid and reliable research. One way to do this is by channeling funds via the expertise and infrastructure of research councils for independent academics like the Economic and Social Research Council and the Medical Research Council.
Another option is to follow the department’s efficient model of research units. This would help produce rapid evidence that keeps pace with the pace that gambling technology is evolving.
In the end, we must reform the system by which gambling in commercial form is regulated. This could mean a brand new act on gambling which is focused on protecting public health and not encouraging gambling as a pastime. This is much overdue.
