Globalisation of anti-doping: the reverse side of the medal

Performance enhancement has always been an essential part of sport, but over the past few decades a strong movement against doping has emerged, in parallel with the rapid development of biomedical technology. This movement was led by the International Olympic Committee, which in 1999 formed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). WADA now leads a global movement for harmonisation of anti-doping rules in elite sport, using repressive, punitive policies for transgression, and documented within the World Anti-doping Code and an annually updated list of forbidden substances and methods (www.wada-ama-org).

Solicited by WADA, Unesco has proposed a convention against doping for signature by member states, adding to the pressure placed on national governments and sports federations to comply.1 This globalisation and harmonisation of anti-doping efforts is ostensibly reasonable since it is designed to enforce consistent rules throughout the elite sporting world. However, there are several compelling reasons to question current anti-doping policies. Inherent flaws and contradictions in the logic of anti-doping policy may have serious consequences for the health and wellbeing of athletes and for public health in general. This article summarises the problems of current anti-doping policy in accordance with the following postulates.