The Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency, one of the foremost institutions that functions to prevent doping from sports and create awareness on banned substances in Sri Lanka marks its seventh anniversary last Sunday.
Functioning as a statutory board, under the Ministry of Rural Infrastructure and School Sports Improvement, the Agency was set up through an Act of Parliament in 2013.
Prime objective
The prime objective of the Agency is to eradicate the use of prohibited substances by athletes and the promotion of clean sports.
The Agency also works in collaboration with International Anti-doping organisations which function to prevent doping in the international sporting arena.
The Agency is now housed in a building with state-of-the-art facilities at Block D, 363/12, Stadium Parking Road, Sugathadasa National Sports Complex, Sirimavo Bandaranaike Mawatha, Colombo 14.
This has enabled the Institution to expand and serve more effectively.
One of the main targets of the Agency is to establish an intelligence and investigation unit by working in collaboration with Government Departments such as the Customs and Immigration departments, Border Forces, Police Narcotics Bureau and the National Medicines Regulatory Authority which will assist to prevent illicit drugs from entering this country.
Another target is to include a study on anti-doping in the school curriculum.
This is with the aim of creating an effective dope free sports environment by educating the school children on ill effects of banned substances. Discussions in this connection are underway with the National Institute of Education.
MoU
The Agency has signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Australian Anti-doping Agency to work in collaboration with them and get their assistance and know-how in sectors like dope control testing, Intelligence and investigation.
Another major achievement of the Agency was the setting up of a Research Unit in 2017 to international standards.
The research unit equipped with a laboratory containing the most modern facilities works in collaboration with the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, National Ayurveda Medicine Unit and also the major conventional Universities in Sri Lanka.
The Research Unit is equipped with the latest Liquid Chomatography Tandem Spectrometer, to detect prohibited drugs in Sports. The Unit mainly focuses on the banned substances which are contained in natural products and conduct research related to anti-doping focusing mainly on traditional herbal preparations to avoid unintentional doping of athletes.
The research Unit has a few publications on its research work
Director General, Sri Lanka Anti Doping Agency, Dr. Seevali Jayawickreme said, “Within seven years, the Agency has made a major contribution to the country by providing a very successful service to support the sports sector in the combating of doping in sports in Sri Lanka and is firm in its commitment to creating a dope free environment in sports in the country.”