In Argentina, the Lottery of the Province of Buenos Aires presents «Activá las alertas», a series of meetings that will bring together specialists from the academic, legal, and psychological fields to reflect on digital consumption, the prevention of problem gambling, and online betting. The initiative, organized in conjunction with the National University of La Plata (UNLP) and the Nexum Foundation, seeks to create informed discussion spaces and provide practical prevention tools, with a special focus on the impact of gambling on youth and adolescents, an age group increasingly exposed to the risks of digital gambling.
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The series is structured into two thematic modules that will take place at different venues in La Plata throughout April in Argentina, combining the clinical and psychological perspective of the first meeting with the regulatory and judicial analysis of the second. The choice of the UNLP as the reference academic institution and the Teatro Argentino and the Faculty of Law as venues underline the institutional and multidisciplinary nature of the proposal.
First meeting: mental health, digital consumption, and problem gambling
The first module of the series will take place on Tuesday, April 15 at 13 hours in the Sala Piazzolla of the Teatro Argentino in La Plata. The session is aimed at high school students, the academic community, health professionals, and families, and will address the link between mental health and digital consumption, with an emphasis on problem gambling as an expanding phenomenon among the younger sectors of the population.
Among the confirmed speakers for this first meeting are Débora Blanca, a psychologist specializing in problem gambling; Pedro Gargoloff, coordinator of the Mental Health Board of the Secretariat of Institutional Relations of the UNLP; and Nicolás Cayetano, a journalist and author of the book «No va más», a work that directly addresses the personal and social consequences of gambling addiction.
Second module: gambling regulation, illegal betting, and the role of Justice
The series will continue on Wednesday, April 29 at 18 hours in the Boardroom of the Faculty of Law of the UNLP. This second meeting will revolve around the regulatory dimension of gambling: the current legal framework in Argentina, the growing problem of illegal betting, and the role of the judicial system in supervising the sector. The choice of the Faculty of Law as the venue is not accidental: it reinforces the technical profile of the module and opens the dialogue to legal operators, legislators, and officials in the field.
The combination of both modules builds a comprehensive look at the phenomenon of online gambling: first from the perspective of health and individual prevention, then from the State and the institutions that must regulate it.
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Why the Buenos Aires regulator is taking the initiative in prevention
The fact that the Lottery of the Province of Buenos Aires itself is promoting a series of this nature has significant institutional meaning. Gambling regulatory bodies in Latin America are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that the legalization and regulation of the sector is accompanied by active player protection policies and is not limited to a revenue-collection function. Assuming a proactive role in prevention is, in that sense, also a response to that social and political demand.
The coordination with a public university of the stature of the UNLP and with a civil society organization like the Nexum Foundation expands the scope and legitimacy of the initiative.
Problem gambling in youth, a rising regional concern
The focus on youth and adolescents proposed by this series responds to a trend documented in several countries in the region. Early access to digital betting platforms, the normalization of gambling in online entertainment environments, monetization models that replicate gambling mechanics in video games and social networks, and the absence of effective age verification mechanisms in numerous operators create a scenario of vulnerability that health systems and regulatory bodies are beginning to recognize more explicitly.
Prevention and regulation: two sides of the same challenge in Argentina
The «Activá las alertas» series is part of a broader debate running through the gambling industry across the region: how to balance sector regulation, the tax revenue it generates, and the effective protection of players, especially the most vulnerable. In a context where countries like Mexico and Colombia are debating or implementing aggressive tax increases on gambling, and where regulators like those in South Africa are launching portals to combat the illegal market, the Buenos Aires Lottery’s commitment to prevention and education represents a complementary and equally necessary approach. Regulation is not enough if work is not also done on demand, and doing so requires precisely the type of alliance between the State, academia, and civil society that this series proposes.
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