Global DRO Partnership Grows with Addition of Drug Free Sport New Zealand
The international network of anti-doping organisations that powers Global Drug Reference Online (Global DRO) has welcomed Drug Free Sport New Zealand as the latest licensee of the platform, which allows athletes to check the anti-doping status of specific medications and ingredients based on the current World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
With this addition to the Global DRO network, New Zealand athletes will have the ability to determine if a government-approved medication or ingredient purchased in New Zealand is prohibited in sport. Athletes and support personnel from around the world can also find information about medications purchased in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and the United States.
UKAD’s Head of Science and Medicine, Nick Wojek said: “UKAD is pleased to welcome Drug Free Sport New Zealand to the Global DRO network.
“For UK athletes training or competing overseas, the growing network of countries using Global DRO means that they can also check the status of any medication purchased in those countries by brand name, rather than having to check each ingredient in a medication individually.”
Since its 2009 launch, Global DRO has become an essential resource for athletes, with the addition of partners and licensees bringing the total number of ingredients to more than 3,400 and the total number of medication brands to more than 68,000. Global DRO includes prescription and non-prescription brand names, as well as generic and over-the-counter medications, that are approved for sale by government regulatory bodies in each country in the Global DRO network. In 2018, Global DRO saw more than 1.6 million searches by athletes, athlete support personnel, and other users.
Global DRO is updated regularly throughout the year when each country in the Global DRO network receives updated brand and drug formulation data, and when WADA modifies the Prohibited List.
Drug Free Sport New Zealand has become the third Global DRO licensee, with the Japanese Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) becoming licensees in 2013 and 2016 respectively. Global DRO is maintained through a global partnership of National Anti-Doping Organisations that currently includes UKAD, Antidoping Switzerland, Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).