Dear Editor,
THIS is a call to action. Online betting and gambling is a global phenomenon that has outpaced other global trends in both growth and reach, leaving in its rapidly expanding path unending stories of destroyed lives and social and economic disasters.
While reducing the digital gap is a positive aspect of digitalisation and technological advancement, corporate interests have simultaneously seized the opportunity to introduce new technology-driven behaviours that, like tobacco, alcohol, and overtly sweetened and salty ultra-processed foods, negatively impact and destroy lives. Technology is, indeed, a two-sided Trojan horse, bringing both advantages and disadvantages.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and The Lancet Commission have warned about the addictive nature of online betting and gambling, with risks extending beyond individual well-being to affect physical and mental health, relationships, work, education, finances, and even leading to suicide and domestic abuse—with enormous societal costs.
Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo has spent considerable time, particularly during two successive Thursdays’ press conferences and on other occasions, highlighting the problem of online betting and gambling. From his and the government’s perspective, online betting and gambling have negative social consequences that are already impacting the lives of thousands of families.
From the Vice-President’s standpoint, no responsible government can ignore the growing social and economic problem associated with online betting and gambling. He has therefore signalled the government’s intention to introduce policy directives to regulate this industry. While details are still forthcoming, the plans reportedly include access restrictions and taxes on operators.
We strongly commend and unreservedly support Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo in his robust highlighting of this growing social and economic problem that has begun to plague Guyana. This is not a purely Guyanese issue—it is a global scourge.
A study published in The Lancet, the prestigious British medical and public health journal, estimated that families worldwide could lose more than US$700 billion annually by 2028 through online betting and gambling. Already, more than 450 million people globally are negatively affected, and over 80 million have been seriously impacted through addiction and the loss of jobs, families, and homes. Online gambling has become a major public health problem, creating serious social and economic challenges in both developing and developed nations.
While there has been no comprehensive study in Guyana on the impact of online betting and gambling, most of us are aware of families that have been affected. There is strong public support for the government’s intention to regulate this industry locally. We also urge CARICOM to place the scourge of online betting and gambling on its regional agenda for collective action.
Although the WHO has identified the problem, global authorities have, as usual, been slow to recognise the tsunami of social and economic ills already being wreaked upon unsuspecting people around the world.
Digitalisation is imperative and indispensable for the optimisation of social and economic development. However, digitalisation and technology come with more than just benefits; there are significant downsides. Smartphones, smart TVs, gadgets, and computers have become almost indispensable to a decent standard of living, yet they also open doors to vices that destroy lives. Betting and gambling, as the WHO has warned, join tobacco, alcohol, and other “unhealthy commodity industries” in undermining public health.
Today’s world has effectively become a pocket casino world. Gone are the days when casinos were confined to glitzy buildings; now, casinos reside in our palms and pockets. Through smartphones and apps, people can gamble from anywhere—homes, offices, or even the fields. Casinos no longer wait for people to come to them; they now come to the people.
Sugar workers and rice farmers take breaks from field work to gamble on their phones. Doctors and teachers gamble between clinics or classes. Housewives forego soap operas to gamble, while others sacrifice sleep to play online. Even politicians, between parliamentary battles, take to betting apps.
This brave new world is not all “glitz and glamour.” Some of its appeal is destroying lives, fuelling mental health challenges, and adding new social and economic hurdles that governments must urgently address. Gambling is not a new addiction plaguing humanity, but online betting and gambling have elevated it to a new level of enormity and urgency.
Beyond financial ruin and spiralling debts, online gambling is linked to suicide, mood disorders, alcoholism, broken families, and domestic abuse. The problem spares no one—it affects people from both developing and developed countries, though the poor are disproportionately impacted.
Compounding the issue is the onslaught of expensive, glitzy advertising campaigns. Operators, such as those in the tobacco and alcohol industries, have been aggressive in marketing and lobbying governments and regulators to resist restrictions.
Guyana currently has no regulations governing online betting and gambling. Most countries around the world maintain liberal or weakly enforced laws on the industry, with only a few—mainly developed nations—enforcing strict rules. Alarmingly, global trends show a move toward regulatory liberalisation rather than control.
Vice-President Jagdeo’s advocacy for restrictions and regulatory controls, including taxation, does not aim to ban online gaming in Guyana. His approach appears to balance personal freedom with public protection, encouraging national dialogue on the path Guyana should take in addressing this global crisis.
Guyana already has laws governing casino licensing in hotels and entertainment venues. When these laws were enacted, Parliament’s Special Select Committee facilitated open debate among Members of Parliament and invited public submissions. That same open, participatory approach should guide this new national conversation.
Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo, as a bold, fearless, and responsible leader, has taken on a pressing social and economic issue—online betting and gambling—that is already having a profound impact on Guyanese society. This is what responsible leadership looks like. He has seized the bull by the horns, and Guyanese must rally behind him.

Dr Leslie Ramsammy