A Buzzfeed report said that the 2014 World Cup is bad news at least in China. This year's tournament has caused not only a surge in betting, but also an increase in the number of deaths.
Although the increase in betting would mean more tax money for the Chinese, it has a correlation to the growing number of suicides and deaths noted by medical experts in China. Citing statistics from the National Sports Lottery Center, over 150 million Yuan (£14 million) was reportedly placed on bets in China on the opening day of the tournament. It has been said that the figure is three times the amount that was reported for the previous tournament.
Medical experts in the mainland have blamed the increasing number of deaths to this year's World Cup. Moreover, the experts also said that the country, sadly, has not done enough progress on the mental illness field, which is also seen as a contributing factor to the suicide number.
Dr Zuo Jing at the Hunan Province Brain Hospital in the city of Changsha, told BuzzFeed, "During the World Cup many people find that their mental disorders return because of emotional swings. China has not done enough in the field of mental illness - this is a weak link in public health management. Many Chinese do not see anxiety or depression as a big deal and ignore them. They never see a doctor, then the World Cup triggers these problems and we see them break out on a large scale. Many who made large bets suffer from emotional swings which lead to recurrences of illnesses and fights. Many come to us for counseling."
Meanwhile, the excessive watching of World Cup matches, which are broadcasted in the wee hours of the morning given the timezones, has also contributed to the poor health of some Chinese fans. The Wall Street Journal said that the nation's biggest budget carrier, Spring Airlines Co, was also concerned about the effect of the World Cup on its staff that it issued an alert to require its department heads to create measures to ensure that key employees like pilots and crew members are not overtired from watching the matches.
Part of the internal memo, which will have employees undergo spot health checks and evaluation at key operations, read, "We hope our staff take good care of their health, ensure they get enough rest and have a better sense of responsibility, so that we have fewer potential safety hazards."
There is no word on whether the Chinese government has a national health measure to address the rise in World Cup-related suicides. On the other hand, the Chinese could very well rely on private entities like Spring Airlines and practitioners such as Dr Zuo to come up with what they can to address a growing issue.
Zou, who, along with his colleagues, set up a clinic to treat patients with tournament-linked illnesses, said, "Watching World Cup games has made illnesses that may have been small previously snowball into serious health concerns."
