The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) has launched a new website to make it easier than ever for athletes to check whether their medications are banned under the World Anti-Doping Code.

The new tool – Global DRO – replaces ASADA’s previous Check Your Substances database and provides athletes with a modern, globally linked database to check whether a medication is prohibited in sport, simply by entering the product brand name.

 Global DRO is an international partnership between anti-doping agencies in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and now Australia. For athletes training or competing overseas, this partnership means athletes 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.

ASADA CEO Ben McDevitt said: “All athletes are solely responsible for all substances that enter their body, so it is important that they have easy access to the most advanced and up-to-date information on every medication sold in Australia.”

 “The collaboration between so many esteemed anti-doping agencies to develop and expand this tool is proof that the fight against doping is a global one. That athletes can not only check substances purchased at home, but also those in Canada, the US, the UK and Japan will be invaluable for our elite athletes that train and compete on the international stage.”

In addition to the five partner countries, Global DRO also provides links to more than 25 other countries’ tools to check medications sold in those countries.

Global DRO is updated regularly throughout the year when new medications are approved by government regulatory authorities, when ASADA receives updated brand and drug formulation data, and when the World Anti-Doping Agency modifies the Prohibited List.

Global DRO is offered through a partnership between the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and Anti-Doping Switzerland (ADCH).

The Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) became a licensee in 2013, followed by Australia (ASADA) today.

Speaking to the immense popularity of the resource, there have been 2.5 million inquiries between the initial partner countries since 2009, with 654,000 searches conducted in 2015 alone.

ASADA advises all athletes to check Global DRO before taking any medication by simply typing the name of the product into the search engine. The results will show whether the substance is prohibited or permitted, both in and out of competition.

Global DRO replaces ASADA’s previous ‘Check Your Substances’  database but is still found on the same location on ASADA’s website. Athletes can also access Global DRO directly at: http://globaldro.com

• This media release was originally published by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) on 27 April 2016. To access the original, please click here.