Reading Time: 2 minutes
Isabelle Falque – Pierrotin, President of the ANJ and Catherine Delorme (President of the Addiction Federation) signed a partnership contract on July 23rd 2024. The agreement aims to improve the prevention of excessive gaming and the protection of children through joint actions.
The Gaming Observatory estimates that in 2019, there were 1.4 million at-risk gamers, of which nearly 400,000 had a pathological condition. The problem gambling sector generates 38% of turnover, and 21% from excessive players. These figures should be updated shortly. They illustrate the reality of social problems for young people, and the collateral damage that occurs in their immediate surroundings: debt, family issues, academic difficulties etc.
The ANJ’s strategic plan for 2024-2026 has as a top priority the reduction of the number and share of excessive gamblers, and the strengthening of the gamblers’ ability to better control their gaming habits, by implementing preventive measures against excessive gambling in addition to the ones implemented by public authorities.
This strategic plan is built on two foundations that are cross-cutting and of special interest for the partnership with Addiction Federation. These include making the scientific knowledge of market practices and gaming practices a compass to regulation, and strengthening the mobilization of all stakeholder groups through partnerships with addiction professionals.
The Addiction Federation represents more than 850 health services and establishments in France, and has over 500 individual members. The Addiction Federation brings together 80% addiction treatment, prevention and support centers (CSAPA), and reception and assistance centres for drug users’ risk reduction (CAARUD), and 20% health systems (addiction care and liaison teams, follow-up care and rehabilitation, addiction consultations and health networks).
The collaboration between ANJ and Addiction Federation will be focused on different areas of interventions such as:
- Studies, prevention support edition,
- Development of tools for players or addiction professionals.
- Design and intervention of training programmes
- Organising events in conjunction is a good idea.
The ANJ will conduct joint training in 2024 with the Addiction Federation and they will publish a document for addiction professionals on gambling regulation.
