AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio News on air. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation.
This article is about the discussion on: India’s commitment to create a clean and dope-free sports ecosystem.
Participants
- Ritu Sain: Director General, NADA
- Omvesh Upadhyay: AIR Correspondent
Context – All aspects of the anti-doping programme are important even as India is making rapid strides towards excellence in sports. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) would make all attempts to spread awareness towards making Indian sports, including sports for athletes with disabilities, dope free.
What is Doping?
The term ‘doping’ refers to the use of prohibited medications, drugs or treatments by athletes with the intention of enhancing their performance. Such athletes actually commit anti-doping rule violations.
NADA: Paving the Path for a Clean Sport.
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) organised a conference, “Paving the Path for Clean Sport: A Dialogue with Stakeholders on Risk associated use of nutritional supplements” to increase awareness among stakeholders in the sports ecosystem on the subject.
- The conference was primarily focussed on risks associated with the use of nutritional supplements by athletes.
- The aim was to sensitise and educate not only athletes, coaches, and medical practitioners but also the entire sports ecosystem about the issues and consequences related to the use of nutritional supplements which might contain prohibited substances.
- Various studies have revealed that many of the adverse analytical findings are due to the inadvertent use of nutritional supplements which had prohibited substances in them.
- The conference was a milestone towards initiating an important dialogue amongst all stakeholders in the sports ecosystem and work towards creating a clean sporting environment in India.
‘Know Your Medicine’ App
During the conference, Sports Minister Shri Anurag Thakur launched the ‘Know Your medicine’ web and mobile application.
- The application will enable the sports ecosystem to check if any prohibited substance is present in the medicine and make informed choices about the use of medicines. The application is equipped with user-friendly features and has a dynamic database.
- The application has been developed by NADA and with this India has joined a few select nations in the world that provide such a tool to its athletes and sports ecosystem.
About NADA –
The National Anti-Doping Agency is mandated for dope-free sports in India. The primary objectives are to implement anti-doping rules as per the WADA code, regulate dope control programmes, promote education and research and create awareness about doping and its ill effects.
- NADA has been organising conferences, workshops and webinars to prevent doping by spreading awareness and providing the right education to all the stakeholders of the sports ecosystem.
Athlete Biological Passport
- It is a powerful anti-doping tool or a tool to deter doping, that monitors selected biological variables over time. It reveals the effects of doping rather than attempting to detect the doping substance or method itself.
- It works against doping through enhanced target testing and analysis, investigations, deterrence, and as indirect evidence for use of prohibited methods or substances.
- India is also participating in the Athlete Biological Passport Programme and is moving towards having an independent APMU (Athlete Passport Management Unit) to manage this programme. India hosted the 3rd edition of the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) symposium in October 2022 in New Delhi.
- The ABP programme was initiated by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) for making the anti-doping programme more effective and stronger.
National Anti-Doping Act, 2022
The Parliament of India passed the National Anti-Doping Bill in July 2022. The National Anti-Doping Act, 2022 is a remarkable milestone to exhibit India’s commitment towards clean sports. With it, India joined the select group of around 30 countries which have their own anti-doping law.
- The new law will ensure the highest standards of integrity while participating and preparing for sports competitions, domestically and internationally.
- It is also an attempt to reinforce India’s commitment to fulfil international obligations for clean sports.
- It would lend legal sanctity to the functioning of NADA and the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL).
NADA and NCERT signed an agreement to strengthen sports value-based education
- National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) signed an MoU on 3 March 2023 to strengthen value-based sports education among school children and teachers.
- The MoU will help in developing an accessible format on sports values and ethics in e-content.
- With the introduction of value-based sports education, anti-doping measures and affirmative sporting values will be included in the sports curricula. This will encourage budding sportsmen to refrain from unfair and unethical sports practices.
Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deal with the problem of doping in sports
- In a continuous fight against doping in sports, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, GoI, Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research, Hyderabad (NIPER Hyderabad) signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
- This MoU is to create nutritional supplement testing capacity in India, provide information & build awareness about the risks associated with the use of nutritional supplements, increase research opportunities in the clean sport & anti-doping domain and provide options for safe and dope-free nutritional supplements for sportspersons.
- This MoU is a form of mutual commitment in compliance with the mandate towards strengthening the field of “Food for Special Dietary Use for Sportspersons”. This collaboration will help develop tools for the dissemination of data and information generated by the testing laboratory at NIPER Hyderabad for the benefit of the sports ecosystem and the public in India.
Conclusion – The purpose of anti-doping measures is to ensure fair competition and protect clean athletes. Doping undermines the fundamental values of sports, such as health, fairness, commitment, integrity and equal opportunities. Athletes should achieve success by fair means and should not fall prey to doping activities. Sportsmen should be well aware of what they are consuming in the form of nutritional supplements. For a country like India that aspires to be a global leader in sports, anti-doping measures need to be strong to promote fair play.
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