Dutch regulator finalises addiction prevention funding

The VPF will be created through the Remote Gambling Act which comes into force in April 2021.

Three agencies have now been tasked with fulfilling three aims of the fund: the Human Assistance Network for Daily Support (HANDS), ZonMw, and The National Healthcare Institute.

The Remote Gambling Act has three key objectives for preventing and treating problem gambling using VPF funding.

It aims to facilitate the anonymous treatment of gambling addiction, support research into prevention and treatment, and create a national support service for problem gamblers and their loved ones.

The National Healthcare Institute will implement an anonymous online treatment service, designed offer remote and discrete services to problem gamblers.

ZonMw, a government body which finances health research, will be tasked with coordinating gambling addiction research.

Finally, HANDS is to establish the national support which will come into effect from 1 October 2021. That date, six months after the Remote Gaming Act comes into force, marks the first the day operators can legally offer their services in the Netherlands.