Bangkok, Thailand: The Vice Minister of Tourism and Sports officially opened the 9th Asia/Oceania Region Intergovernmental Ministerial Meeting on Anti-Doping in Sports.  This meeting was jointly hosted by the government of Thailand and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), where 27 governments from Asia and Oceania attended.

WADA was represented by Mr. David Howman, Director General, Ms. Anne Jansen, Senior Manager in WADA’s Government Relations & Compliance, Mr. Kazuhiro Hayashi (Director) and Ms. Chiho Miki (Coordinator) of WADA Asia/Oceania Regional Office. Meanwhile, Mr. Reza Charim, Director, and Ms Nadia Al Shamari, Executive Secretary, of the Doping Control Department in OCA, and Dr Manikavasagam Jegathesan, Chairman of the OCA Medical Committee and Anti-Doping commission attended the meeting as an observer from the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

The meeting was held in two consecutive days. On the first day of the event, Mr. David Howman gave comprehensive briefings on WADA’s activities and Code revision, and it was followed by updates on Anti-Doping Programme by participating countries.

The first day was concluded successfully and the resolution was adopted, in which the Asian governments agreed on the contribution formula for 2013-2017 for five years . On the second day of the event, both Mr. Reza Charim and Dr. Manikavasagam Jegathesan were invited as guest speaker and introduced the recent Activities and Games of OCA and the OCA Doping Control Programme.

The Asia/Oceania Region Intergovernmental Ministerial Meeting on Anti-Doping in Sport is conducted on a annual basis to pave the floor for all countries in Asia and Oceania to share the knowledge and experiences in all anti-doping programme aspects, and to provide an opportunity for the governments to discuss and decide its policy on anti-doping, namely for Asian government on the WADA’s annual contribution. The meeting was officially concluded on 29 June 2012.