Rio de Janeiro tracks gambling addiction in routine checkups.
The Municipal Health Department of Rio de Janeiro has begun screening for gambling addiction during routine consultations at the city's Primary Care units. The protocol was adopted in August 2026 in Family Clinics and Municipal Health Centers (CMS), with the aim of identifying cases of gambling addiction and offering care to both the gambler and their family members.
The initiative was reported by Globo Online and represents a shift in the public health approach to compulsive gambling. Rio de Janeiro is the Brazilian capital with the highest percentage of gamblers, and health teams themselves noticed the increase in demand for care related to the problem even before the protocol was implemented.
The screening process works by asking two questions during all patient visits. The answers are recorded in the patient's electronic medical record, and a positive result in either question triggers a more in-depth evaluation by healthcare professionals. The model follows the same logic already used to identify depression and smoking in the units.
“Normally, people don’t arrive at the units through the main entrance seeking treatment for gambling addiction. It’s not such an easy issue to treat, especially since there are usually anxiety, insomnia, depression, and other illnesses linked to this addiction. We are trying to treat it early,” declared the Secretary of Health of Rio, Rodrigo Prado.
Profile of bettors and initial results
The first results appeared within a week of administering the questionnaire. Among the 3.070 patients who responded, 22 said they felt the need to gamble, equivalent to almost 1% of the total. Another 15 admitted to lying to family members to hide how much they spent on gambling.
The profile of gamblers previously identified by the Secretariat is also noteworthy. Before implementing the protocol, the SMS's Assistance Intelligence Center (NIA) analyzed electronic medical records from Primary Care and Mental Health networks using a natural language model. The search found 1.368 people reporting suffering associated with situations suggesting gambling addiction. The majority were men, the median age was 37 years, and 53% were between 18 and 39 years old.
Among the affected family members, the scenario was practically the opposite. This group represented about 35% of the reports, and 85% were women, with a median age of 45, predominantly wives or mothers of the gamblers. The analysis also identified at least 25 patients under the age of 18, 22 of whom were boys. Although minors cannot legally gamble, the presence of these cases in the records was considered consistent with the expansion of gambling apps among teenagers.
Service and referral
After the problem is identified, the patient receives a clinical evaluation and a treatment plan defined according to the degree of risk. Mild cases receive guidance; more severe cases are monitored by a multidisciplinary team and psychosocial support. Care extends to family members, even when the gambler themselves refuses to start treatment.
Community health workers (CHAs) and other professionals from the units underwent specific training on the subject, with capacity building offered by the Ministry of Health.
In March 2026, the Ministry of Health created a mental health telehealth service specifically for gamblers. Since then, the service has accumulated over 27 registrations, with almost 9% of searches originating from Rio de Janeiro. The service offers up to 100 free and confidential telehealth consultations per month for people with gambling addiction and their support networks. To access it, users need to log into the Meu SUS Digital app with their gov.br account, click on “Miniapps,” and select the option “Now There Are Mental Health Specialists for Gamblers.” After a self-test, the user is directed to the AgSUS platform to schedule their first consultation.
Across the country, people with gambling-related problems can also seek help at Basic Health Units (UBS) and Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS).
Initiatives in Rio de Janeiro
The Drug, Gambling, and Alcohol Addiction Program at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) has also launched a specific project to assist patients with addictions to online gambling and betting. Marcelo Santos Cruz, a psychiatrist and coordinator of the group, reported an increase in demand for treatment from people with serious problems caused by gambling.
“These current forms of gambling differ from previous ones in several ways. One of them is the speed at which a person can play. On a cell phone, a person can play uninterruptedly. And with betting sites as well, a person can play one game, or several, in football and even other sports. There are games available 24 hours a day. And this is very different from what existed before, when a person had to leave home to gamble. They had to go to the racetrack or the casino. When there were slot machines, they had to go to a bar to play. And now the availability is uninterrupted. So, a person can gamble all the time from home,” Cruz stated.
The doctor detailed the profile of patients served by the program; young people, between 14 and 30 years old, predominantly men, who represent about 60% of those treated.
Gamblers Anonymous (GA) is another available support option. The organization operates independently, without sponsorships, and holds daily meetings throughout the country, either in person or virtually. On Sunday (August 30th), O Globo Online attended a meeting of the group. Breno (fictitious name), a 37-year-old businessman, had been in GA for eight days when he recounted his experience: “I sought out a psychiatrist, a psychologist, I stopped gambling for three months. I thought I had overcome it, but I relapsed. I've been in Gamblers Anonymous for eight days, and it's the first time in a long time that I feel my head a little lighter. It's a place where we are welcomed, where I finally understood that this is not weakness, it's not a lack of character, it's an illness, and illness can be treated.”
On the JA website, you can take a 20-question self-test to identify your addiction and find available groups and meeting times.
