Ordinance 153, published this Monday (24) in the Official Gazette of the Union and signed by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, designates 28 civil servants to form the Mental Health and Harm Reduction Working Group for Problem Gambling. The Ordinance complies with the provisions of Law 14,790 and the Interministerial Ordinance MF/MS/MEsp/Secom.
The purpose of the WG is to formulate and plan actions to assist individuals and social groups in situations of gambling addiction or vulnerable in the context of the exploitation of sports betting and online games.
Biweekly meetings and a 60-day deadline for completion
The Working Group will meet, on a regular basis, at least biweekly and, on an extraordinary basis, whenever convened by its coordinators or by one third of its members.
The Working Group's activities will last sixty days for the delivery of a final report containing:
I - brief description of the activities carried out and results; and
II - the Action Plan referred to in the Ordinance that created the WG.
The meeting schedule must include at least the following phases, the order of which may be changed by decision of the Group:
I - phase 1: discussion of scope, schedule, planning of invitations to entities and prioritization;
II - phase 2: discussion on identifying channels and means of remote emergency assistance to users in situations of problematic gambling behavior;
III - phase 3: discussion on indicators, data and methodologies for identifying and classifying people at risk of, or vulnerable to, repeated problematic gambling behavior, including discussion on forms and means of implementing mechanisms for excluding people in high-risk situations from betting systems, as well as integrative mechanisms between operating agents for horizontal compliance with self-exclusion requests; and
IV - phase 4: discussion on strategies, protocols and guidelines to be adopted in health services, including personnel training actions, in the care and assistance to people in situations of problematic gambling behavior.
The deadline for completion of the Working Group may be extended by act of the coordinators, as long as it is for a specific period and less than sixty days.
Members
The following members were appointed to compose the Interministerial Working Group on Mental Health and Prevention and Reduction of Harm from Problem Gambling, established by Interministerial Ordinance MF/MS/MEsp/Secom No. 37, of December 6, 2024:
I - from the Ministry of Finance:
a) Carolina Yumi de Souza, Deputy Secretary of Prizes and Betting;
b) Daniele Correa Cardoso, General Coordinator of Responsible Gambling Monitoring;
c) Francisco Carvalheira Neto, General Coordinator of Regulation; and
d) Andiara Maria Braga Maranhão, Deputy Responsible Gambling Coordinator;
II - from the Ministry of Health:
a) Sônia Barros, Director of the Department of Mental Health, Alcohol and other Drugs;
b) Gabriella de Andrade Boska, Coordinator of Management of the Psychosocial Care Network;
c) Gilmara Lucia Santos, director of the Department of Health Promotion and Prevention; and
d) Letícia de Oliveira Cardoso, director of the Department of Epidemiological Analysis and Surveillance of Noncommunicable Diseases;
III - of the holders of the Ministry of Sports:
a) Giovanni Rocco Neto, National Secretary of Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sports;
b) Diogo Ferreira Barros Medeiros de Souza, director of Promotion, Entrepreneurship and Digital Economy;
c) Ermeson de Amorim Melo, general coordinator of Consent for Fixed-Odds Sports Betting; and
d) Danilo Barbosa Mendonça, general coordinator of Economic Development of Sports;
IV - of the holders of the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic:
a) Mariana Giancoli Cardoso Pita, general coordinator of Promotion of Diversity and Pluralism;
b) Denis Rodrigues da Silva, general coordinator of Protection of Rights on the Internet;
c) Renata Tavares do Rêgo, chief of staff; and
d) Márcia Luiza de Araújo e Souza, director of Strategy and Information;
V - of the alternates of the Ministry of Finance:
a) Leticia Soeiro, coordinator of Responsible Gaming;
b) Beatriz Pioltine Macedo Costato, assistant to the office of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets;
c) Marcelo Damato, technical advisor to the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets; and
d) João Paulo Resende Borges, General Coordinator of Systems of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets;
VI - of the alternates of the Ministry of Sports:
a) Lucas Alexsandro Rodrigues Pinheiro, chief of staff of the National Secretariat of Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sports;
b) Diana Carvalho de Freitas, technical advisor of the Directorate of Promotion, Entrepreneurship and Digital Economy;
c) Márcio Zuba de Oliva, general coordinator of Game Modalities, Electronic Competitions and Events; and
d) Lorena Martins Passos, general coordinator of Combating Detrimental Practices in Sports Betting;
VII - of the alternates of the Secretary of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic:
a) Mayra Tiemi Yonashiro Saito, general coordinator of Freedom of Expression and Combating Disinformation;
b) Julia Faustina Abad, coordinator of Policies for the Protection of Rights on the Internet;
c) Carolina da Rocha Bizarro, General Coordinator of Content; and
d) George Marques da Silva e Silva, project manager.
Source: GMB
