The Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) invited representatives from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to meet, in order to share experience and best practices and to further our joint cooperative efforts. During the visit, which took place at JADA headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, both JADA and USADA agreed on further cooperation to maximise respective expertise and enhance the global anti-doping movement.
Travis T. Tygart, USADA CEO, and Dr. Matthew Fedoruk, USADA Science Director, visited Tokyo February 18-19 and met with Japan’s Deputy Director-General of the Ministry in charge of sport (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, MEXT); JADA President, Prof. Hidenori Suzuki; and the President of the Japan Sport Council, Dr. Ichiro Kono and the Council’s Anti-Doping Group members. USADA also delivered a presentation to the JADA staff members and scientific and medical experts of the Tokyo-based Athlete Passport Management Unit (APMU) on the topic of longitudinal data collection and the biological passport program.
JADA CEO, Shin Asakawa, Testing Senior Manager, Chika Hirai, and Strategy & Planning and Education Senior Manager, YaYa Yamamoto, also met with Mr. Tygart and Dr. Fedoruk to discuss the continued collaboration between the two organizations. Mr. Tygart stressed the significance of sharing expertise and making use of mutual strengths of both National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs). In June of 2013, JADA became the first licensee of Global Drug Reference Online (Global DRO) to use a non-Roman-alphabet language. Global DRO is a robust resource, originally created by USADA, in partnership with UK Anti-Doping and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, to assist athletes in determining the prohibited status of medications. With over 35,000 hits in the first 7 months after launch in Japan, USADA and the JADA Global DRO project team continue to develop Global DRO Japan functionality, including educational resources for the athletes and over 5,000 Japan-based sports pharmacists, and plan future developments.
Mr. Tygart and Dr. Fedoruk visited the MEXT government office and met with Mr. Nagayama, Deputy Director General of Sports and Youth Bureau. With the 2015 World Anti-Doping Code coming into effect, Mr. Tygart stressed the important role intelligence and investigations play in successfully detecting and deterring doping in sport, and the key importance of building effective relationships between public authorities and NADOs. They also shared thoughts and discussed recent social science research on bridging the cultural divide between the anti-doping movement and the sport community, as well as enhancing deterrence and fostering relationships with key stakeholders outside of sport.
“International cooperation is an important part of our mission at USADA, and for the global anti-doping movement as a whole,” said USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart. “We have a strong relationship with our partners at JADA, and we appreciated their invitation to meet and explore further opportunities for continued collaboration.”
Now that the Japan Sport Council (JSC) has responsibility for anti-doping after the JSC’s legislation was revised in 2013, the JSC works in close cooperation with JADA to ensure sport integrity, and strengthen Japan’s anti-doping program to incorporate intelligence and investigation capabilities. Dr. Ichiro Kono, JSC President, congratulated USADA’s dedication to clean sport, and told Mr. Tygart and Dr. Fedoruk that Japan faces a pivotal time with planning for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Games; that the Games success hinges on implementing an effective and state-of-the-art anti-doping program to preserve the rights of athletes to participate in clean sport; and that the success of a clean games is important to the reputation of Japan.
Prof. Suzuki was delighted to continue the cooperative relationship with USADA, stressing that: “We have many elements to learn, particularly including the effective use of intelligence and investigations to build capacity in strengthening anti-doping programs. Now that we have responsibility for the success of the Tokyo 2020 Games, I believe that the stronger collaboration with USADA will assist us in promoting best practices not only domestically, but regionally in Asia. We also look forward to building our collaborations in such areas as research, and sharing information and knowledge to protect clean sport and clean athletes.”
About:
Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA)
The Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) was founded in 2001 as the cooperative effort of all stakeholders in Japan. Supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), JADA endeavours to lead the anti-doping activity with its key activity areas of education, awareness raising, research, doping control and the JADA Sports Pharmacist Program. It strives to promote and strengthened a value-based education programme in Japan in view of development of people and society through sport.
http://www.playtruejapan.org/
United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)
USADA is responsible for the testing and results management process for athletes in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement, and is equally dedicated to preserving the integrity of sport through research initiatives and educational programs. In an effort to aid athletes, as well as all support team members such as parents and coaches, in understanding the rules applicable to them, USADA provides comprehensive instruction on its website on the testing process and prohibited substances, how to obtain permission to use necessary medications, and the risks and dangers of taking supplements as well as performance-enhancing drugs. In addition, the agency manages a drug reference hotline, Drug Reference Online (www.GlobalDRO.com), conducts educational sessions with National Governing Bodies and their athletes, and proactively distributes a multitude of educational materials, such as the Prohibited List, easy-reference wallet cards, periodic newsletters, and protocol and policy reference documentation.
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