New impetus for the 'Prevention of gambling addiction' program in Netherlands

The Prevention of Gambling Addiction program will receive a new boost of €21 million. ZonMw and the Ksa aim to use this funding to contribute to improving the prevention and treatment of gambling addiction by funding independent research. On Thursday, August 28, 2025, Michel Groothuizen, Chairman of the Netherlands Gambling Authority, and Véronique Timmerhuis, General Director of ZonMw, met to officially launch the follow-up program.

Netherlands Gambling Authority
Michel Groothuizen, Chairman of the Ksa's Executive Board: "The protection of players is a key priority for the Ksa. By continuing this program, we are joining forces to gather more essential knowledge on this topic, so that we can prevent gambling harm as much as possible.

Urgent Challenge
Gambling addiction is one of the urgent societal challenges ZonMw faces. Therefore, Timmerhuis emphasizes: "It is good that this program focused on gambling addiction is being continued. Much knowledge development is still needed to develop effective approaches and to ensure that these approaches are effectively implemented in practice. ZonMw can also contribute expertise from other mental healthcare domains and thus play a valuable connecting role. Step by step, we are developing knowledge to better help people with addiction in the future."

Commitment of the Follow-up Program
The problem surrounding gambling continues to grow, and gambling addiction is often accompanied by other problems, including depression, substance abuse, and suicidality. Financial, social, and societal consequences also typically occur. The Prevention of Gambling Addiction program 2025-2030 therefore focuses on broad knowledge development on the prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm and problems. ZonMw strives to ensure that people experiencing problems due to gambling receive earlier and better help through targeted implementation of the developed knowledge.

Work Packages
The program is structured around five work packages:

Vulnerable players, gaming characteristics, and gaming behavior
Prediction, risk factors, early detection, and prevention
Practical: Diagnostics, intervention, and treatment
Experience-based expertise, participation, and the social domain
Overarching knowledge infrastructure

Plans
The first funding round will open in 2025, allowing ZonMw to fund three long-term thematic consortia. In the coming years, we will also focus on knowledge in practice and on encouraging talented researchers and practitioners. Finally, there is room for current issues and policy priorities from the Netherlands Gambling Authority, which we will translate into assignments for the field. 

Legalization of Online Gambling
ZonMw's commitment to knowledge development on gambling addiction is nothing new. The program launched in 2022, commissioned by the Netherlands Gambling Authority. The program was initially developed based on a research agenda (referred to another website) developed in collaboration with experts in healthcare, science, and peer support. The impetus was the legalization of online gambling in 2021. Since the opening of the online market, the number of players has increased.

Previous Commitment
Several projects have since been launched within the program. These have led to successful collaborations and were featured in both 2024 and 2025 at the international conference "Current Advances in Gambling Research," organized last year in Amsterdam in collaboration with ZonMw. The first projects will deliver their results in the coming year. These will be disseminated through the website, LinkedIn, and newsletter, among other channels.

Addiction Prevention Fund
This program is funded by the Addiction Prevention Fund, which is funded through a levy on gambling and is managed by the Netherlands Gambling Authority (Ksa).

Deployment of Expertise by Experience
ZonMw always places great value on the deployment of independent, experiential experts. This ensures that projects truly add value for the people they benefit. ZonMw is currently discussing how to properly incorporate experiential experts into the new program.