It marks the fifth successive year that the company has participated in the campaign, in which it advocates that lottery games are not for children. It joins lotteries in the US, Canada and Europe in helping raise awareness about the risks of gifting lottery games to minors during the holiday season.

“Youth problem gambling has emerged as a significant growing public health issue,” said NCPG Executive Director Keith Whyte. “We applaud Scientific Games’ commitment to raising awareness about the risks of youth gambling through the Gift Responsibly campaign.

“Our message is a simple one: lottery tickets are never appropriate gifts for children.”

Scientific Games noted that its Healthy Play responsible gaming programme provides lotteries with tools to help educate players about lottery literacy. This includes knowledge of the appropriate age to purchase and play lottery games.

Scientific Games VP of Responsible Gaming Carla Schaefer commented: “Everyone should do their part year-round to help prevent underage lottery play. Lottery games should never be gifted to minors.

“This means knowing the minimum age to purchase lottery games where you live or travel, and if you see the sale of lottery products to minors, report it.”

Scientific Games currently provides retail and digital games, technology and services to 130 lotteries in 50 countries around the world. Last week, the group announced that it will provide its latest Wave point-of-sale technology to the Atlantic Lottery’s retail network.