Government creates working group on mental health, prevention and reduction of problem gambling – Games Magazine Brasil

The Interministerial Ordinance MF/MS/MESP/SECOM No. 37 was published in the Official Gazette of the Union this Monday (9), establishing the Interministerial Working Group on Mental Health and Prevention and Reduction of Harm from Problem Gambling.

The objective is to formulate and plan actions to prevent, reduce harm and assist individuals and social groups in situations of persistent and recurrent problematic gambling behavior or vulnerable to the problem, in the context of the commercial exploitation of sports betting and online gaming, which are dealt with by Laws No. 13,756 and No. 14,790.

Responsibilities

The WG is responsible for preparing the Mental Health and Problem Gambling Prevention Action Plan, which will contain actions, policies and measures for prevention, harm reduction and assistance to individuals and social groups vulnerable to, or in situations of persistent and recurrent problem gambling behavior, and may, for this purpose:

I – promote the examination, analysis and discussion of administrative actions, public policies and suggestions for regulatory action;

II – propose any actions, policies and measures deemed pertinent for harm reduction and addressing the problem, in compliance with the responsibilities of each Ministry, which are considered pertinent;

III – prepare guidelines on the prevention and treatment of health-related problems resulting from gambling; and

IV – coordinate with, or request, any public or private agency or entity to provide information or other types of collaboration useful for the performance of its responsibilities and specify the forms and deadlines for assistance when applicable.

Sole paragraph. The Working Group may include in the actions, policies and measures under its jurisdiction other measures of any nature deemed necessary, including:

I – educational actions and campaigns;

II – actions to raise awareness among gamblers regarding the risks of gambling, guidelines and mental health assistance programs;

III – guidelines on the prevention and treatment of gambling-related problems; and

IV – parameters and criteria for guiding and directing betting operators in monitoring actions, classifying profiles and risk factors, and analyzing and identifying gamblers with persistent and recurring behavior.

The Interministerial Working Group will be composed of:

I – four representatives from the Ministry of Finance;

II – four representatives from the Ministry of Health;

III – four representatives from the Ministry of Sports; and

IV – four representatives from the Social Communication Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic.

Each representative will have an alternate, who will replace him/her in his/her absences or impediments. The representatives and their respective alternates will be appointed by the heads of the bodies they represent, within five days from the date of publication of this Ordinance.

The Executive Secretariat will be held cumulatively by the representative of the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) of the Ministry of Finance designated for shared coordination.

The Interministerial Working Group may invite other public or private bodies and entities, national or foreign, to contribute to the execution of the work, without the right to vote in the discussions of the Board.

Biweekly meetings and 60-day deadline for completion

The WG will meet, on a regular basis, at least every fortnight and, on an extraordinary basis, whenever convened by its coordinators or by one third of its members.

The Working Group’s activities will last sixty days for the delivery of a final report containing:

I – brief description of the activities carried out and results; and

II – the Action Plan referred to in the Ordinance that created the WG.

§ 1º The meeting schedule must include at least the following phases, the order of which may be changed by decision of the Group:

I – phase 1: discussion of scope, schedule, planning of invitations to entities and prioritization;

II – phase 2: discussion on identifying channels and means of remote emergency assistance to users in situations of problematic gambling behavior;

III – phase 3: discussion on indicators, data and methodologies for identifying and classifying people at risk of, or vulnerable to, repeated problematic gambling behavior, including discussion on forms and means of implementing mechanisms for excluding people in high-risk situations from betting systems as well as integrative mechanisms between operating agents for horizontal compliance with self-exclusion requests; and

IV – phase 4: discussion on strategies, protocols and guidelines to be adopted in health services, including personnel training actions, in the care and assistance to people in situations of problematic gambling behavior.

The deadline for completion of the Working Group may be extended by the coordinators, as long as it is for a specific period of less than sixty days.

Source: GMB