Medical Service and Doping Control
Medical Service
There will be a First Aid service at all the Sport Venues. Lahti City Hospital is using an on-call system when all the urgent cases can be taken in. Also, Päijät – Häme Central Hospital is near Lahti, where it’s possible to get referral. There is also a private doctor stations in down town. It is possible to get an appointment on short notice, there is also a person-on-call during weekends. In case of serious accidents, Päijät-Häme central Hospital is on-call. It is recommended that the athletes and other tourists check that their medical insurance covers travel and accidents in Finland.
The European Health Insurance Card
The European Health Insurance Card makes it easier for people from the European Union’s 27 Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland to access health care services during temporary visits abroad. It will help save you time, trouble and money if you fall ill or suffer an injury during your stay in Lahti.
So, all European athletes and their companions arriving to Finland for the World Masters Athletics Championships 2009, please make sure that you either have this card, or a similar insurance of your own.
By presenting your European Health Insurance Card, you will receive medical treatment on the same terms as the local residents. If you have to receive medical attention, you will be reimbursed either immediately, or after you go home to your own country. The idea is that you are given the care you need to allow you to continue with your stay.
For more information, visit these websites:
European Commission / Healthcare abroad
Kela – The Social Insurance Institute of Finland / European Health Insurance Card
WMA Anti-Doping Requirements
The attention of WMA athletes is drawn to the fact that WMA observes strictly the IAAF Anti-Doping Rules and Code as governed by the WADA Code. Athletes competing in any WMA Championships events, by their signature to the entry form, acknowledge that they are fully bound by these Rules and Codes and any applicable prevailing Anti-Doping legislation in the Country hosting these Championships.
This means that a medical certificate explaining the use by an athlete of a prohibited substance, even for sound medical reasons, will not avail in the event of an athlete testing positive to a prohibited substance. The only exception is if the athlete is in possession of a Therapeutic Use Certificate (“TUE”) issued to him/her either by the WMA Medical Officer or the assigned body provided for in IAAF Rule 34(5).
Failure on the part of the athlete to produce a valid TUE after testing positive to a prohibited substance may well render the athlete liable to being suspended from competition and forfeiting any awards received, if found guilty of committing a doping offence at a hearing pursuant to the provisions of the Disciplinary Procedures as prescribed in the IAAF Competition Rule 38 as read with Rules 39 and 40, alternatively in the WADA Anti-Doping Code or the Anti-Doping Code of the host Country.
For athletes wishing to apply for a TUE to the WMA Medical Officer as designated in the entry form, must submit written applications to this officer at least six weeks prior to the commencement of the Championships. In the absence of the entry form specifying the name and address of the designated Medical Officer, applications are to be submitted to the Chairman of the WMA Anti-Doping and Medical Committee, namely Mr. Stan Perkins at: stanperkins@bigpond.com
All such applications are to be fully supported by medical documentation setting out the existing medical condition/s and the need for the use of the prohibited substance. The provisions of IAAF Rule 34(5) must be followed irrespective of to whomever the athlete submits the TUE application.
