As part of its drive to eradicate drug abuse in sport, the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport has unveiled a mobisite and an iPhone app aimed at providing users with the most up-to-date information on banned substances.
According to Drug-Free Sport's CEO, Khalid Galant, the institute is the third such agency worldwide to unveil an anti-doping app, as the Swiss and German anti-doping agencies rolled out similar apps earlier this month.
Galant explains that because new prescription drugs are constantly entering the market, doctors and athletes need access to the most up-to-date information. “The app provides us with a channel to communicate other anti-doping information to its users. It also features a 'news' section that allows us to post articles and news about doping.”
According to the institute, the app lists drugs according to their brand names, noting whether or not they are banned.
The app also has a list of banned and allowed medications. Users of the app are also given the option to search for pharmaceuticals according to the following categories: prohibited at all times; prohibited in-competition; prohibited in certain sports; and prohibited in males.
Galant says consumer research has shown an increase in the use of smartphones to access information on the Internet and the creation of the app is a response to this trend.
He adds that the aim of the app is to make anti-doping information more accessible and people without iPhones can also access the information on the mobisite.
The institute says the app will be released on BlackBerry, Android and Symbian operating systems at the end of 2011 and during early 2012.
“For the last couple of years, we have made this information available in a booklet format and on our Web site,” says Galant. He notes that SA's athletes tend to be early adopters of new technology and he is confident they will quickly adopt the iPhone app.
The institute says it receives feedback daily from people downloading the app. The application can be downloaded for free here and the mobisite can be accessed here.
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