A wide cross section of athlete support personnel from several sporting federations, associations and secondary school principals from across the island participated in the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission’s (JADCO) Symposium, which was held at the Jamaica Conference Centre (JCC) on Thursday, January 29, 2015, under the theme “Exploring the New and Improved World Anti- Doping Code.”
The symposium sought to update participants about the revised World Anti-Doping Code, the Anti-Doping in Sport Act, 2014 and the 2015 Anti-Doping Rules.
Speaking at the event, The Hon. Natalie Neita Headley, Minister with Responsibility for Sport, said “The Government has embarked on the development and strengthening of appropriate structures and framework that will protect and provide a level playing field in the world of competition.” She further added, “All areas of sport development go hand in hand. While we work together to put in place all the necessary measures to ensure fair play in sport, we recognise that the well-being of our athletes goes beyond protection against doping. Athlete well-being also includes ensuring that there is access to preventative and rehabilitative health care.
Emphasising the need for continuous dialogue between stakeholders, JADCO’s Chairman, the Hon. R. Danny Williams said, “This symposium is not only about educating participants about the revised governance framework. It is also an opportunity to dialogue with you, our stakeholders, who are the ones whose athletes will be affected by these rules and regulations. This will ensure that everyone not only understands the changes in the rules, but also their implications.”
Dr. Frances Berry of the Jamaica Badminton Association commended JADCO for organising the symposium and encouraged athlete support personnel to assist JADCO in passing on the key elements of the anti-doping message to athletes and all stakeholders in sport. “Everyone needs to come on board and we need to educate our athletes so that they can play true. I would encourage all federations and associations not to wait for something bad to happen, because we all need to be educated and we need to do so before our athletes become affected.”
The symposium was endorsed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Rob Koehler, Senior Director of NADO/RADO Relations at WADA, expressed his satisfaction with the progress which JADCO has made to date, in keeping its stakeholders informed. He pointed out that, with the help of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), JADCO has made some significant improvements to its anti-doping programme during the past year.
“The revised Code promises much and it is now up to anti-doping organisations worldwide to implement and practice the rules effectively and give clean athletes confidence that the anti-doping system is working in their best interest. Through hosting the symposium today, JADCO has taken the first step in doing just that. Furthermore, for JADCO to reach its goal to protect the clean athletes, national federations must cooperate with and adopt JADCO’s anti-doping measures.”
Kerwin Clarke, Manager of NADO/RADO Relations at WADA, delivered a presentation on the World Anti-Doping Programme at the event. The CCES was also present and Karine Henrie, Manager of Anti-Doping Initiatives, made a presentation on The Fight against Doping through Partnerships, while Carey Brown, Executive Director, JADCO spoke about The Evolution of JADCO and led the afternoon session, which took the form of a round table discussion which focused on JADCO’s 2015 Anti-Doping Programme.
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