Recent discussions have honed in on a critical health issue affecting the citizens of London – the stark impact of harmful gambling. In a thorough meeting, Assembly member Emma Best sought clarity from the Mayoral health advisor on the current state of efforts to curb gambling advertisements on Transport for London (TFL) services.
Despite Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn’s April 2021 campaign pledge to prohibit such ads on the London underground, the promise remains unfulfilled. The health advisor pinpointed the lack of a solid definition for harmful gambling as a significant roadblock in bringing this commitment to fruition.
This point of contention has brought back recollections of Kahn’s successful ban on junk food ads across TFL, enforced from February 2019. An established national consensus on what constituted high fat, sugar, and salt products served as a foundation for this earlier initiative – an advantage currently absent in the fight against harmful gambling.
The Mayoral office has embarked on an ambitious project to concretize the meaning of harmful gambling, seeking assistance from the government and public health partners to devise a legal and evidence-backed definition.
In the face of potential legal challenges, precision and robust evidence are key factors that are being meticulously considered. With the expectation of legal scrutiny, the advisor stressed the importance of an approach grounded in evidence to resist and delay any such challenges effectively.
There is undisputed recognition of the rising issues linked to gambling harm within the metropolis. Coffey, who doubles as a General Practitioner (GP), noted an increase in problems tied to gambling. Interestingly, it is the families that bear the brunt of such issues who come forward for support more often than the individuals directly struggling with gambling addiction. Family members grapple with the vast repercussions on the mental and financial well-being of their loved ones, along with housing stability problems ensuing from gambling addiction.
Supporting Coffey’s observations, Sian Griffiths, deputy chair at the UK gambling harm prevention charity GambleAware, emphasized the secondary harm on affected others, especially children. The connection between advertising exposure and the likelihood of children adopting gambling behaviors highlights the critical need for advertising restrictions; a sentiment echoed by the agreement to eliminate gambling ads during football games, albeit allowing them around match times.
An assessment of the situation in London reveals a paradox: despite lower than average participation in gambling, there is a disproportionate number of individuals in need of support and treatment for gambling harm. Marguerite Regan, head of gambling at the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, shed light on this discrepancy. Upcoming statistics are anticipated to illuminate the scope of Londoners who could benefit from targeted assistance, with London showcasing the highest rate per hundred thousand individuals requiring such support.
As the debate continues, the Mayoral office is not sitting idly but rather pushing ahead with efforts to define, legislate, and implement measures against harmful gambling. Robust definitions and steadfast evidence-based actions are seen as the cornerstone of a strategy that will withstand scrutiny and pave the way for a safer environment, particularly for vulnerable populations like children, affected by the negative impacts of gambling in the capital.
