Pharmacists’ doping role

PHARMACISTS have a key role in protecting athletes from the “significant and very serious” health impacts of doping, International Testing Agency Operations Manager, Mark Stuart, believes.

Speaking during an International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) webinar focused on doping in sport, last week, Stuart - who has previously worked as a Clinical Pharmacist at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, said pharmacists have a duty of care in supporting “athletes who are patients to make the best decisions, to select the best medicines that are most effective for their condition”.

“Then also support them in making good decisions in terms of making sure that they compete and are treated within the World AntiDoping Agency Code,” he said.

“I think fundamentally for a pharmacist though, it’s about protecting the health of the athlete, and that should be at the core of how we approach anti-doping, as healthcare professionals.”

Moderating the webinar, Associate ExCo Member of the FIP Industrial Pharmacy Section, Kerstin Wagner, told delegates that doping was “first and foremost the abuse of medicinal drugs”.

“We are talking about our core expertise,” she said.

“When we look at the four main principles of the fight against doping, we’re also talking about the main values we as pharmacists are relying on, knowledge, science, education and last but certainly not least, care.”