The Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) received 166 requests for help from gamblers in the first three quarters of the year, an increase of nearly 50 percent compared with the same period last year, IAS Drug Addiction and Rehabilitation Department Chief Richard Cheang Io Tat told reporters yesterday.
Cheang made the remarks on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of the “Responsible Gaming Promotion 2024” held at the JW Marriott Hotel at Galaxy Macau yesterday.
Co-organised by IAS, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) and the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming (ISCG) at the University of Macau (UM), the ceremony was attended by over 200 people, among them various gaming operators, a number of gambling disorder prevention and treatment organisations from Hong Kong and Macau, representatives of social service organisations as well as experts and academics.
Cheang noted that the overall trend of requests for help by gamblers in recent years had dropped from 25 percent of the total number in 2011 to six percent in the first three quarters of this year, while tourists were becoming more aware of responsible gambling and the issue of gambling disorders.
Cheang added that the bureau is providing ongoing training for casino staff to understand or recognise gamblers with potential gambling disorders, in order to support them and to encourage them to seek help.
During yesterday’s ceremony, the DICJ said that the prevalence of gambling disorders in Macau had decreased from six percent in 2007 to 0.45 percent in 2022, while the awareness rate of responsible gambling among local residents increased from 16.2 percent in 2009 to 64.9 percent last year.
According to the bureau, the programme has received support from various gaming operators and gambling disorder prevention and treatment organisations since its launch in June this year, and has already launched more than 140 diversified promotional activities with about 460,000 participants.
The bureau said that it will continue to step up its promotional efforts to reach out to different groups, with a focus on promoting gambling prevention and proactive help-seeking among young people in the future, recognising the signs of gambling addiction at an early stage, understanding the potential risks associated with gambling, and cultivating a positive attitude towards life in order to reduce various types of addictive behaviours.
This photo provided by the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) shows the closing ceremony of the “Responsible Gaming Promotion 2024” campaign yesterday at the JW Marriott Hotel at Galaxy Macau yesterday.
