Case Report: A gambling-related suicide in rural Malawi [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Background As in many other countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Malawi’s commercial gambling sector has grown considerably in recent years. Driven by the widespread availability of internet through mobile devices, the industry has penetrated both urban and rural settings. In Malawi the model common...

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Autores principales:	Junious Mabo Sichali, Albert Dube, Lackson Kachiwanda, Heather Wardle, Amelia C Crampin, Christopher Bunn
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Wellcome 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cc4835c219e044b98db171fe364070a8
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cc4835c219e044b98db171fe364070a82021-11-29T14:03:52ZCase Report: A gambling-related suicide in rural Malawi [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]2398-502X10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17333.1https://doaj.org/article/cc4835c219e044b98db171fe364070a82021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/6-308/v1https://doaj.org/toc/2398-502XBackground As in many other countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Malawi’s commercial gambling sector has grown considerably in recent years. Driven by the widespread availability of internet through mobile devices, the industry has penetrated both urban and rural settings. In Malawi the model commonly implemented by gambling companies is similar to that used by mobile phone operators. Agents equipped with cellular devices connect to providers’ servers to place wagers for customers and print receipts using simple printers attached to their devices. This has produced lucrative returns for providers. While increasing attention is being paid to this trend, most research focusses on sports betting and there is a deficit of papers that document gambling-related harms. Methods Here we present a narrative case report of a 16-year-old boy, ‘Wati’ (pseudonym), who lived in rural Malawi and took his own life after gambling and losing money that did not belong to him. As his community is part of a demographic surveillance site, a verbal autopsy was conducted, later supplemented with interviews with Wati’s close friend and uncle, to whom his mother referred us. We triangulated data from these three sources to create a narrative case report of Wati’s suicide and its relationship to his gambling practices. Results We found that the gambling harms leading up to Wati’s suicide were recurrent, that his gambling practices were diverse (lottery, football betting, digital games and cards) and that signs of distress were apparent before his suicide. Conclusions From this case report, we learn that underage individuals participate in gambling in Malawi, can develop harmful habits and that their gambling is not confined to sports betting. We also learn that there is a lack of accessible services for people who develop harmful gambling practices. Wati could have benefited from such services and they may have saved his life.Junious Mabo SichaliAlbert DubeLackson KachiwandaHeather WardleAmelia C CrampinChristopher BunnWellcomearticleMedicineRScienceQENWellcome Open Research, Vol 6 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Junious Mabo Sichali Albert Dube Lackson Kachiwanda Heather Wardle Amelia C Crampin Christopher Bunn Case Report: A gambling-related suicide in rural Malawi [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
description	Background As in many other countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Malawi’s commercial gambling sector has grown considerably in recent years. Driven by the widespread availability of internet through mobile devices, the industry has penetrated both urban and rural settings. In Malawi the model commonly implemented by gambling companies is similar to that used by mobile phone operators. Agents equipped with cellular devices connect to providers’ servers to place wagers for customers and print receipts using simple printers attached to their devices. This has produced lucrative returns for providers. While increasing attention is being paid to this trend, most research focusses on sports betting and there is a deficit of papers that document gambling-related harms. Methods Here we present a narrative case report of a 16-year-old boy, ‘Wati’ (pseudonym), who lived in rural Malawi and took his own life after gambling and losing money that did not belong to him. As his community is part of a demographic surveillance site, a verbal autopsy was conducted, later supplemented with interviews with Wati’s close friend and uncle, to whom his mother referred us. We triangulated data from these three sources to create a narrative case report of Wati’s suicide and its relationship to his gambling practices. Results We found that the gambling harms leading up to Wati’s suicide were recurrent, that his gambling practices were diverse (lottery, football betting, digital games and cards) and that signs of distress were apparent before his suicide. Conclusions From this case report, we learn that underage individuals participate in gambling in Malawi, can develop harmful habits and that their gambling is not confined to sports betting. We also learn that there is a lack of accessible services for people who develop harmful gambling practices. Wati could have benefited from such services and they may have saved his life.
format	article
author	Junious Mabo Sichali Albert Dube Lackson Kachiwanda Heather Wardle Amelia C Crampin Christopher Bunn
author_facet	Junious Mabo Sichali Albert Dube Lackson Kachiwanda Heather Wardle Amelia C Crampin Christopher Bunn
author_sort	Junious Mabo Sichali
title	Case Report: A gambling-related suicide in rural Malawi [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
title_short	Case Report: A gambling-related suicide in rural Malawi [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
title_full	Case Report: A gambling-related suicide in rural Malawi [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
title_fullStr	Case Report: A gambling-related suicide in rural Malawi [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
title_full_unstemmed	Case Report: A gambling-related suicide in rural Malawi [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
title_sort	case report: a gambling-related suicide in rural malawi [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
publisher	Wellcome
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/cc4835c219e044b98db171fe364070a8
work_keys_str_mv	AT juniousmabosichali casereportagamblingrelatedsuicideinruralmalawiversion1peerreview2approved AT albertdube casereportagamblingrelatedsuicideinruralmalawiversion1peerreview2approved AT lacksonkachiwanda casereportagamblingrelatedsuicideinruralmalawiversion1peerreview2approved AT heatherwardle casereportagamblingrelatedsuicideinruralmalawiversion1peerreview2approved AT ameliaccrampin casereportagamblingrelatedsuicideinruralmalawiversion1peerreview2approved AT christopherbunn casereportagamblingrelatedsuicideinruralmalawiversion1peerreview2approved
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Case Report: A gambling-related suicide in rural Malawi [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

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