The Danish Gambling Committee (Dansk LudomaniKomité), a new initiative established to increase research into gambling addiction, has secured funding from a group of gambling operators.
Kindred Group, Danske Spil, Spilnu.dk, Mr Green and Betsson Group committed a total of DKK12m ($1.8m) to the committee, which will be based at the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University.
Jørgen Frøkiær, head of the department at the university, will chair the committee, while the University of Copenhagen, University of Southern Denmark, Aarhus University Hospital and Aalborg University will also be represented on the board.
The committee will focus on four key areas: treatment of gambling addiction; prevention of harm among children and young people; preventing addition within online gambling; and general knowledge gathering.
It is expected that the first applications for new research projects will be accepted at the beginning of July.
“We are pleased that the gaming companies are contributing to being part of the solution, and we are now looking forward to helping a research area well on its way, which has had a difficult time for many years,” Frøkiær said.
Kindred’s general manager for Denmark and Italy, Kim Olesen, also backed the new initiative, saying it fits in with the group’s own goal of generating zero revenue from harmful gambling.
Olesen said: “We do not want to make money from players who have an unhealthy relationship with gambling. It is therefore important that we are able to help those who need help.
“With our contribution to the Danish Gambling Committee, we want to take our share of the responsibility and support the development of better and more effective forms of prevention and treatment of gambling addiction.”
Kate Jacquerot, legal director responsible for responsible gaming at Danske Spil, said: “We want to contribute to creating a safe and secure gambling market in Denmark and we are happy to support the Danish Gambling Committee, where new independent research can play a key role in creating knowledge about how we best prevent and take care of gamblers who show signs of addiction.”
