Hosted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Federation (IF) / National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) Anti-Doping Symposium was held in Lausanne on 30th — 31st March, 2006. Approximately 125 IF/NADO representatives, including FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis and Madeleine Erb, administrator of FIS Anti-Doping activities, came together to discuss the current and future activities in the fight against doping. The main themes for presentations and subsequent working group discussions included effective in- and out-of-competition testing, the roll-out of the new, on-line Anti-Doping Administration System (ADAMS), and improved coordination of information for athlete whereabouts and Therapeutic Use Exemptions.
One of the Symposium’s main topics, the ADAMS system is designed to help coordinate and simplify the daily activities of all stakeholders involved in the anti-doping system and notably, ease the athletes’ delivery of their whereabouts information. ADAMS is a web-based database management system available in French, English, and Spanish. In addition to athlete whereabouts, it includes functionality to administer Therapeutic Use Exemptions and doping control information as well as to increase coordination of anti-doping activities through an Information Clearing House. For more information on ADAMS, <click here. In addition to ADAMS, WADA is planning to implement a secure extranet for the anti-doping organizations to exchange information, such as lists of contacts and scientific information.
As discussed at the Symposium, WADA has recently introduced an Athlete Outreach Model that anti-doping organizations, national Olympic committees, international and national federations can use to educate athletes about the dangers and consequences of doping. The comprehensive turn-key program is a fun way to increase awareness, including an interactive computer game, templates for banners, anti-doping educational publications, and prizes for athletes.
In the future, following the adoption of the WADA Code by UNESCO on 19th October 2005 — a critical step for the global anti-doping program — the anti-doping organizations will be meeting in a World Conference in 2007 to finalize amendments to the WADA Code.
Source: FIS
