Countries should impose restrictions on the use of smartphones and other hand-held devices to reduce the harm they cause to young people, a senior figure at the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, WHO Director of the Division of Country Health Policies and Systems, compared the excessive use of communication devices to tobacco addiction.
“Maybe we need to think about where it is appropriate to use digital devices, and maybe it’s also time to start thinking about places where certain digital devices should not be used,” she told Politico magazine on the sidelines of the European Health Forum in Gastein, Austria on Wednesday.
The measures could include age limits and “no-go zones,” similar to the bans on smoking in certain areas, she said.
“As with anything else, you can use these tools well and effectively,” Azzopardi-Muscat noted. “But we have to be careful, because we have a portion of the population who are reporting problematic use.”
The expert stressed that in certain cases gadgets take a toll on mental health, while undermining education and “productivity in the workforce.”
“The evidence needs to be collated systematically, and then we need to see what is likely to work, and what is the approach that we want to take,” Azzopardi-Muscat said, adding that it is “quite clear that we can’t delay taking actions and decisions.”
Health professionals and government officials in many countries have expressed concern over impact of electronic devices on children, especially given the almost ubiquitous use of smartphones and social media among teenagers.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has vowed to draw up measures aimed at combating “excessive screen time and addictive practices” prevalent in the digital age. “My heart bleeds when I read about young people harming themselves or even taking their lives because of online abuse,” she said in July.
Several nations are taking measures to reduce children's screentime, and countries including the Netherlands, Hungary, France, Greece and England have banned the use of smartphones in classrooms.