Van der Gaag to serve as responsible gambling chair

News on 19 Nov 2018

Dr Anna van der Gaag has been appointed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) as Chair of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB).

The RGSB comprises a team of advisors tackling the research, education and treatment required to reduce gambling-related harms.

van der Gaag succeeds Sir Christopher Kelly with immediate effect as Kelly’s term winds to an end in March 2019.

As a Visiting Professor of Ethics and Regulation at the University of Surrey, van der Gaag has held regulatory roles in the health, social care and legal sectors. She has a particular interest in how regulators can be proactive in the prevention of harm.

Bill Moyes, Gambling Commission Chair said:

“It is with pleasure that we announce Dr Anna van der Gaag as the new Chair of RGSB. She brings with her a wealth of experience in health, social care and the prevention of harm that will be an asset in advising on how to implement the next National Strategy, which will launch in April 2019 and on which we will shortly be consulting.”

Formerly Chair of the Health and Care Professions Council, van der Gaag is a non-executive director at Health Education England and the Kent Surrey and Sussex Academic Health Science Network and a founding member of the Q Community, a quality improvement network led by the Health Foundation. She was awarded the CBE for services to health and care in 2015.

“Gambling-related harms are increasingly recognised as a public health issue requiring robust collective action,” van der Gaag added. “I am thrilled by this opportunity to join a team with such a passionate commitment to understanding and reducing harms and raising awareness of the personal and societal costs that can arise from gambling activities.”

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