Sports minister says local anti-doping lab would reduce costs

Minister of Sport and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith is advocating for the establishment of a regional anti-doping testing lab in Barbados, in an effort to reduce the significant cost involved in sending samples abroad to be analysed.

He made the call on Friday during the opening ceremony of the National Anti-Doping Commission’s Doping Control Officer Re-certification programme.

The event, which is being held at Divi Southwinds Resort, has also attracted participants from six other Caribbean countries.

According to Griffith, countries in the region are struggling with the cost of sending their samples to Canada.

“I think the last time my director indicated it was in excess of US$400 to have samples go to Canada to have those samples tested. I’m making a plug for Barbados and I’m asking the private sector to partner with government to establish a lab here on the island.”

“I’m told that in order to make it relevant you need to be doing in excess or just about 1000 samples per year. I think if not in Barbados and one is established within the region, the volume of tests that will go to that particular lab will make it viable for us to have our own lab here in the Caribbean, instead of having to send our samples all the way to North America to have them tested,” he said.

Griffith also urged local anti-doping officials to adopt a more community-based approach.

He suggested that messaging which surrounds anti-doping could also be shared more at the primary school level.

“If we can start this from as early as NAPSAC, I think it is important that we move not only at community levels but we go to the schools and be able to impact those youngsters at the schools.” 

“This is so the peer pressure coming from anti-doping will be strong and it will buttress everything that is coming from you and your team in relation to how we can strengthen those individuals who are seeing sports as a viable career,” Griffith said.

“Government is fully committed, as I mentioned before, to ensuring that we can do whatever is necessary to move the process forward.”

The minister described the staging of the programme as very timely, particularly in a Barbadian context.

“All of you in the room from my country would be aware of the big outcry when one of our national athletes recently decided to participate in what they call the Enhanced Games, and I know that it is a major struggle because of the amount of cash that is being thrown at athletes to participate in these type of events. There is really a need for us to have this particular event here today, in relation to the anti-doping project on the island,” Griffith asserted.

Chairman of the National Anti-Doping Commission, Dr Adrian Lorde also hailed the importance of the retraining workshop, describing it as one of the most critical stages of the doping control process.

“If procedures done in sample collection are not done properly, athletes who are tested positive or have committed anti-doping rule violations are cleared. It’s important to have this type of workshop and retraining as things have evolved in anti-doping.” 

“So through your work, you must continue to uphold the principles of clean sport and to protect the rights of clean athletes,” Dr Lorde said.

Sport Integrity Canada is assisting in facilitating the retraining exercise and its Director of Anti-Doping Services, Matthew Koop, said while they have past linkages with Caribbean anti-doping officials, the three-day workshop represents an important step forward.

“Over the course of the next few days, we will focus on equipping participants with the knowledge, practical skills and confidence required to carry out doping control responsibilities in full alignment with the World Anti-Doping Code and the international standards. For those joining us as new doping control officers, this marks the beginning of an essential role within the anti-doping system,” he noted.

“For those being recertified, it is an opportunity to strengthen your expertise, remain aligned with evolving standards, and reaffirm your commitment to excellence.”

(KH)