WADA leadership meets with World Health Organization Director General in Geneva

Today, the President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Witold Bańka, and WADA Director General, Olivier Niggli, met with the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to discuss some areas of mutual interest and to establish a framework for further cooperation.

The meeting, which also included WADA Senior Director of Science and Medicine, Prof. Olivier Rabin, took place at the WHO headquarters in the Swiss city of Geneva and was set up to facilitate greater information-sharing and collaboration, particularly related to topics such as substance abuse in sport and wider society, and promotion of the health benefits associated with physical activity and clean sport.

Mr. Bańka said: “The global anti-doping system depends on effective collaboration and inter-organizational cooperation and information-sharing. I believe that by pooling resources and ideas, we can address mutual challenges and go much further together. Guided by science, the World Health Organization is dedicated to the well-being of everyone as it champions global efforts to give people an equal chance to live healthy lives.

“For us at WADA, that ties in perfectly with our mission to lead a global collaborative mission for doping-free sport. I want to thank Dr. Tedros and his team at WHO for their willingness to collaborate with WADA and their commitment to support the promotion of healthy, clean sport around the globe.”

Following this initial meeting, it is hoped that a formal agreement can be established over the short term between the two organizations to collaborate more proactively for the benefit of athletes around the world and society at large.