The world’s attention is now on the Paris Olympic Games.
Well ahead of this, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and International Testing Agency (ITA) have been collaborating with anti-doping organizations worldwide – including those accredited by NATA, to carry out testing to ensure athletes participating in Paris are competing on a level playing field.
The anti-doping process is designed to safeguard the physical health and mental integrity of all athletes and as well as uphold the ethics of sport.
Why is accreditation so important in this process?
As part of the stringent testing processes WADA requires, all athlete samples be secured and sent to a WADA-accredited laboratory. For a laboratory to be WADA accredited, it needs to comply not only with the ISL (mentioned below), but also to be accredited by an ILAC signatory accreditation body against the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025.
As an ILAC signatory, NATA has accredited 4 laboratories against the ISL, including in Australia, Japan, Thailand and Qatar. The 3 latter laboratories are in economies where accreditation against the ISL is not available by a local ILAC signatory.
Accreditation is crucial for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) because it ensures the reliability and quality of anti-doping laboratories worldwide.
Uniformity and Harmonization: Accredited labs are required to meet stringent requirements outlined in the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) which ensures uniformed processes and reliability in the testing results between laboratories.
Performance Levels: Accredited labs must achieve Minimum Required Performance Levels (MRPL) for detecting and identifying prohibited substances, their markers, or metabolites. This ensures accurate and reliable testing.
In short, accreditation plays a pivotal role in maintaining the global fight against doping by upholding quality standards and consistent performance in anti-doping laboratories.
You can learn more about NATA’s accredited anti-doping labs here