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Are scratch cards a neglected problem? Data says yes
Friday, 2/21/2020
A paper wrote by two School of Medicine of University of Minho researchers raises concern about the huge growth of instant Lottery in Portugal and its dangerous effects to health
Are scratch cards a neglected problem? The answer is in the data – which
indicates that yes, scratch cards are a neglected problem. The medium expense
in instant Lottery per person in Portugal is 160 euros, an extremely high value
when we compare with Spain – with 14 euros per person. The data now presented
by Daniela Vilaverde e Pedro Morgado, researchers of the School of Medicine of
University of Minho and of ICVS, as well as psychiatrists in Hospital de Braga,
is published this Friday on The Lancet Psychiatry, the journal with the highest
impact factor in this area.
“The numbers in Portugal are brutal in comparison with Spain – and with
the rest of Europe. We spend too much money in scratch cards and this means
that the number of people with pathological game problems (game addiction)
associated with scratch cards is also potentially higher”, explains Pedro
Morgado.
The great consume of instant Lottery in Portugal is related to many
factors, as Morgado points: “first, the access is facilitated and there are
many distribution spots; second, it’s commonly accepted and there is little
stigma associated with this addiction; third, the great publicity that some
media make with the prizes, with many stories on first person that make the
public believe that winning is much easier than what actually is. The fact that
the result of the bet is immediate also contributes to the addiction”.
“In general, patients come to the medical consultation by the hands of
family, after they had consumed all their saves or after having monumental
debts”, relates the psychiatrist, warning to a largely ignored phenomenon.
“There is the perception that the numbers have been increasing, but there are
no studies about this problem that proves this point”.
In the paper, published on the reputated The Lancet Psychiatry, the authors cite the successful work of
Portugal on the prevention and treatment of addictions with toxics to appeal to
the implementation of appropriate control measures that regulate the game, and
also find strategies to assess the size of the problem and how we can fix it.
The data used in the paper are public and can be found on the reports of
the responsible entities of each country.
