An estimated 80 million people worldwide suffer from gambling disorders or problematic gambling as a result of the digital revolution’s substantial expansion of the online casino and sports betting markets. Adolescents are the most affected group, according to a recent study by the Lancet Public Health Commission.

The Commission’s research further states that children and teenagers are being exposed to gambling product marketing in previously unheard-of ways. Because of this exposure, they are especially vulnerable to the allure of quick cash and the addictive qualities of online gambling sites.

There is a pressing need for greater knowledge and preventative measures to protect vulnerable people from the dangers of online gambling as the prevalence of gambling problems rises, particularly among younger populations.

The author of the reports said that “gambling is not an ordinary kind of leisure; it can be a health-harming, addictive behaviour. The harms associated with gambling are wide-ranging, affecting not only an individual’s health and wellbeing but also their wealth and relationships, families, and communities, and deepening health and societal inequalities.”

“By examining these harms, the Commission unveils the intersections between the social, commercial, legal, and political determinants of health. The Commission sheds light on the increasingly complex commercial ecosystem for gambling and its digital transformation, which offers unparalleled capacities for gambling,” the report further said.

The Commission calls on governments and policymakers to treat gambling as a public health issue-just as for other addictive and health-harming commodities, such as alcohol and tobacco-and provides recommendations to prevent and mitigate the broad range of harms associated with gambling,” the report further said.