In Sardinia, for every thousand euros lost through gambling, public funds invested in treating the disease amount to €1.53. This is very low, but the island fares better than other regions: the figure is 2.9% compared to the national average of €1.49. This figure places Sardinia in eleventh place out of 19 regions.

The figures come from Oltre il Gioco, an independent project dedicated to the prevention of problem gambling. The analysis compared the annual share of the Fund for Pathological Addictions allocated to regional plans (€32.195 million in total) with the legal gambling spending recorded in 2025 by the Ministry of Economy and Finance report: €21.62 billion in 19 regions (Trentino-Alto Adige is excluded).

Sardinia is allocated €874,935 per year for plans to combat pathological gambling, 56 cents per resident, in line with the national average. In 2025, residents lost €571.2 million gambling , or €367 per inhabitant . After Basilicata, it is the second-highest region in Southern Italy, well ahead of Sicily (€1.29).

According to the analysis, the distribution is not random: "It depends on the criteria established by the Ministry of Health decree of August 1, 2025, which excludes gambling losses. The fund is divided 70% based on the access quota to the National Health Fund, linked to the resident population, and 30% based on the number of people treated in 2024 by public addiction services, for all addictions and not just gambling . The second criterion rewards areas where the network of services is already more developed: where services serve fewer people, fewer resources are available to expand them ."

The comparison takes on further significance when compared to the map of accessibility to treatment centers published by Oltre il Gioco in August: "In Sardinia, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità portal lists 2.57 centers for gambling disorder per million inhabitants , below the Italian average of 4.09."

(Unioneonline/AD)

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