Four months after the legalization of online gambling in Brazil, the Ministry of Health has yet to take measures to mitigate the social harms of gambling. Despite collecting an average of R$3.3 million per month, there is no reference to problem gambling, a condition recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) that affects 3 million Brazilians, on the ministry’s website.
The “Bets Law”, sanctioned in December 2023, determines that a portion of the revenue must go to measures to prevent and control social damage caused by gambling. Despite this, the ministry states that the regulation of betting is “recent” and requires “careful structuring of actions”.
The interministerial working group therefore began planning measures on March 10, with a 60-day deadline to present an action plan. However, it has not yet released a final report, which suggests that the deadline may be extended.
The group, comprised of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Sports and the Presidency’s Social Communications Secretariat, aims to address the “exposure of players to abusive practices and the increase in cases of addiction.” However, the Treasury imposed secrecy on the collegiate’s documents, justifying the need for “confidentiality” to maintain the integrity of the technical discussions.
Since January, the Ministry of Health has not carried out any broad communication campaigns to warn about the risks of online gambling. On May 12, the ministry’s website had no content related to gambling. On the agency’s social networks, the term “gambling addiction” also does not find any results.
Position of the Ministry of Health
In an official statement, the Ministry of Health stated: “The Ministry of Health is developing, in partnership with experts and the Interministerial Working Group (GTI), measures to prevent, control and reduce harm to health related to gambling.
The regulation of betting in Brazil is recent and requires the careful structuring of actions, based on scientific evidence and aligned with the organization of the National Policy on Mental Health, Alcohol and other Drugs, to serve people with demands arising from this type of activity.
Broader and more structured actions are being developed within the scope of the GTI, with the participation of Secom, to ensure that informative content is disseminated effectively and on a large scale to the entire society.”
