NADA India Conducts ‘Inclusion Conclave’ for Athletes with Disabilities:

The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) convened an inclusion conclave to intensify the focus on anti-doping education and procedures for athletes with disabilities to promote inclusivity in our nation’s anti-doping landscape. The conclave occurred in New Delhi and was attended by participants from India and 20 other countries. The purpose of the conclave was to foster discussion on the policy environment for athletes with disabilities by drawing many stakeholders’ attention to the difficulties experienced by athletes with disabilities.

Inclusion of persons with disabilities is a central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and towards that end, the Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has also released draft guidelines on “Accessible Sports Complex and Residential Facilities for Sports Persons with Disabilities.”

NADA has recently adopted several initiatives to ease the anti-doping mechanism for athletes. It has created extensive anti-doping teaching and awareness modules for people with impairments under the Universal Design of Learning (UDL). UDL is a framework that focuses on enhancing the teaching and learning experiences for athletes using a variety of techniques, including sign language visual representation, subtitles that have been translated, and contains audio.

Additionally, NADA has been holding training sessions for Drug Control Officers (DCOs). These officers are responsible for the collection of samples from the athletes; thus, their sensitization during the collection of samples has been stressed.