A round table event was chaired by Chief Medical Officer for Wales Dr Frank Atherton and Gambling Commission Chief Executive Neil McArthur. The latest Commission figures show that around 20,000 people in Wales are problem gamblers and approximately 84,000 are at risk of developing a problem.
Around 30 representatives from organisations including NHS Wales, local authorities, treatment providers and sports bodies met to discuss ways of reducing those numbers. Topics addressed included prevention and treatment services, public health messaging, gambling venues and research.
Bangor University and Public Health Wales have published a report “Framing a public health approach to gambling harms in Wales: Challenges and opportunities” along with a risk index map to help LAs and industry operators to produce local area risk assessments and to use this understanding of local area risk to protect vulnerable people from harm by developing appropriate policies and procedures.