Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) has intensified their campaign in a bid to reach out to sportsmen and women who are still ignorant about doping laws.
ADAK director in charge of education and research, Agnes Wanjiku Mandu, said ADAK will work closely with the media to reach out to their targets as they seek to sensitise them on the effects of doping.
She said ADAK will also organise roadshows and work with the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) as a way of reaching out to sports people across the country. Besides, the official said they will use advertisements in the print and electronic media to ensure their plan is working.
Mandu said most of their outreach has been more private but this time round they want to use the other channels to reach sportsmen and women across the country.
“We will do roadshows during major sports events to reach not only to the athletes but also the sports lovers,” Mandu said, adding: “The social media is a very strong tool to reach out to the younger generation who are more vulnerable especially when it comes to use of drugs and its abuse. We will also produce adverts both video and photographic to place them in the media.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the National Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi, she said: “Previously, we have been reaching out to groups and individual athletes, but now we want to go all out and also organise road shows.”
mandu said their centre of focus this time will be the anti-doping rules and violations. “They need to know that it is not just about testing positive that puts one in trouble but also refusing to do the tests or tampering with the results or testing equipment,” she said.
