The goal of the new state body is to formulate and plan assistance actions for individuals and social groups in a gambling situation or in a vulnerable situation.
Brazil.- The Brazilian government has sanctioned the creation of the Interministerial Working Group on Mental Health and Prevention and Reduction of Harm from Problem Gambling. The objective is to formulate and plan assistance actions for individuals and social groups in a gambling situation or in a vulnerable situation in the context of the exploitation of sports betting and online games. The creation of the entity was endorsed through Interministerial Ordinance No. 37.
In addition to the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, the ordinance is signed by the Ministers of Health, Nísia Trindade, of Sports, André Fufuca, and of the Secretariat of Social Communication (Secom), Paulo Pimenta. The text, published in the Official Gazette of the Union, provides that the group will develop the Mental Health and Problem Gambling Prevention Action Plan.
In addition to awareness campaigns for bettors, the group may establish "parameters and criteria to guide betting operators in monitoring actions, classify profiles and risk factors, analyze and identify bettors in situations of persistent, recurrent, and problematic behavior."
Among the planned actions is the discussion on ways and modes of implementing mechanisms to exclude from betting systems people in high-risk situations, as well as integrative mechanisms among operating agents for the horizontal compliance of self-exclusion requests.
The Interministerial Working Group will be composed of four representatives from each of the institutions involved. Thus, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Sports, the Ministry of Health, and the Secom will each contribute four members. Each representative will have a deputy, who will replace them in their absences or impediments. The representatives and their respective deputies will be appointed by the heads of the bodies they represent, within five days following the publication date of the Ordinance published today.
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The Executive Secretariat will be performed cumulatively by the representative of the Secretariat of Awards and Betting (SPA) of the Ministry of Finance designated for shared coordination.
Furthermore, the Interministerial Working Group may invite other public or private, national or foreign bodies and entities to contribute to the execution of the work, without the right to vote in the discussions of the Collegiate.
