Fair Play

– There are only four countries in the world, one of which is Spain, with two reputable laboratories to detect any anomalous substance that might affect an athlete’s normal performance

– One of the laboratories is less than 20 km away from the sub venues and the Olympic Village, making additional investments unnecessary

– The Olympic Village will have all the necessary equipment and facilities; seven hospitals are within a 13.7 km radius

– In 2012 Madrid will have 475 clinical centres, 36 hospitals and 33 specialized centres; requirements have already been met, but new facilities also considered

– The Games will be rolled out with stability thanks to the 50,000 agents from all public administrations, of which 11,000 will be local

Madrid, 8 May 2009 – Zero tolerance against doping and a first-rate, free health system. Those are the conclusions from the “Medical Services and Doping Control” presentation, one of the four from the last day of the Evaluation Commission’s visit to Madrid. The Mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, took charge of the introduction. Gabriel Masfurroll, President of USP Hospitals, Belén Prado, Health and Infrastructure Vice Councillor of the Region of Madrid, and Jesús Mora, Coordinator of Security and Emergency Services for Madrid, were the speakers. The Secretary of Sport, Jaime Lissavetzky, spoke on the other theme: anti-doping measures.

The use of forbidden substances deprives athletes’ aspirations of giving their best. That is why “zero tolerance”, in the words of Lissavetzky, is the guiding principle of Spain’s doping policy. “Spain has ratified every international agreement related to the fight against doping”. The creation in 2008 of the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency is proof of the importance placed on doping in Spain. Other measures are the National Plan for the Fight against Doping in Sport, and the Law for Health Protection and Against Doping of 2006. These texts “define the legal framework that makes Spain one of the most advanced countries and shows our firm and solid involvement in this fight”.

Lissavetzky made special mention of the relationship between Spain and the World Anti Doping Agency, “because we have always helped them by advocating, ratifying and promoting their activities”. A good example would be the celebration in Madrid of the III International Sports Doping Conference in November 2007. Another is the continuous effort to spread knowledge and awareness to other countries through international collaboration, especially in Europe and Latin America.

He was also proud of “the magnificent task being carried out by the Spanish police force, that in the past few years has carried some of the main operations against the manufacture, distribution and consumption of doping substances”. As an example, he referred to ‘Operación Puerto’, considered to be one of the most important and successful initiatives against doping, and an important milestone in the struggle as acknowledged by AMA.


Reputed laboratories

Spain currently has two reputable laboratories, equipped with the most advanced systems and technologies to detect any anomalous substance that might affect the moral performance of athletes. “This situation,” he stressed, “makes us worldwide leaders in the availability of these kinds of services, because there are only three other countries in the world that have two accredited laboratories”.

Situated in Madrid and Barcelona, the first one is less than 20 kilometres away from the sub venues and the Olympic Village. “This gives the idea of the ease and speed with which samples for analysis can be transported, as well as how quickly results can be communicated.” This also demonstrates that further investments in this area are unnecessary.

To illustrate this concept, he explained that in the last year 12,000 samples from all sport disciplines had been analysed, 42% outside competition. “Consequently, Spain and Madrid meet the conditions for completely guaranteeing all required actions in the fight against doping during the Olympic Games.”


First-rate health care system

Free and universal, the Spanish health care system is another plus for the bid. “The emergency services of the city and Region are among the most innovative and prepared of the world. They can attend to any eventuality in the fastest and most effective way. This system will be at the full disposal of the Olympic family during the Games”, stated Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón in his introduction.

Gabriel Masfurroll has dedicated his life to sport, health and disability. In his speech he spoke of Spain’s system as “pioneering”. “Many countries, like the USA, are studying its application. Spain exports health assistance to other countries and in many specialties its professionals are the best in their field”.

The best hospitals of Madrid are near the Olympic Village and the proposed hotel for the IOC. “Our health care system will offer rigorous and professional treatment to the Olympic and Paralympic family, athletes, media and visitors,” assured Masfurroll. This idea was also stressed by Belén Prado. “During the celebration of the Games all centres and facilities of the Public Health Care System will be made available. Citizens of the EU and other countries with bilateral agreement will receive health assistance any time they need it. In case of emergency, all visitors from other countries will also receive assistance”.

The Olympic Village will have equipment and facilities for the Olympic family’s needs. In addition, seven hospitals with around 7,500 beds in total will be at their disposal within a 13.7 km radius and 15 minutes away by car from the Olympic Village.

The Gregorio Marañón Hospital, with 1,728 beds, is 8.6 km away from the Olympic Village and ten minutes away by car. The other main hospitals are: Princesa Hospital, 560 beds, 9.9 km and 12 minutes away; Clínco San Carlos, 1,023 beds, 14.7 km and 16 minutes away; Doce de Octubre, 1,369 beds, 15 km and 16 minutes away; La Paz, 1,531 beds, 15.1 km and 5 minutes away, and Ramón y Cajal 1,155 beds, 19.3 km and 21 minutes away. There are another six hospitals close to the Olympic Village.


Avant-garde health care

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Spain has extraordinary health care indicators, with continuous improvement over the last few years, which rank the Spanish system as seventh in the global ranking.

Health care in the Region includes 420 assistance centres with 32 hospitals and 33 specialized centres with emergencies. It also provides an emergency, 24-hour service with home care and external consultations, with 49 private hospitals and a military one, owned by the Defence Ministry.

“Madrid has a significant number of health care resources and is a benchmark and pioneer city in the rest of the world”, said Prado. To demonstrate this, she mentioned the Gregorio Marañón, the first hospital in the world that regenerated a myocardial infarction heart with stem cells from the spinal cord and adipose tissue.

An average of two daily transplants is performed in the Region of Madrid. Out of every five transplants performed in Spain, one is done in Madrid. Additionally, the Madrilenian health services are among the best in Europe in diagnosis equipment and cancer supervision, with a unit for each million inhabitants – the highest in the EU.

With regard to local medical services, they are specialised in emergencies and every three years they must pass knowledge tests. These result in improvements that help save lives. “We have increased the survival standard in intensive care,” stated another of the speakers, Jesús Mora, Coordinator of Security and Emergency Services for Madrid.


Budget

During 2004-2007, 55 new primary care centres and eight new hospitals were inaugurated. Between 2008 and 2012, four new hospitals and 55 primary care centres will be built.

With this extensive health care infrastructure, the Games’ requirements will be covered; however an additional new polyclinic facility is planned for within the Olympic Village. “We have the resources needed to provide the highest quality of health care and medical assistance during the 2016 Olympic Games”, Prado said.


A secure Madrid

Jesús Mora referred to how a safe Madrid will allow the Games to happen with normality. To ensure this there will be 50,000 agents from the public administrations of which 11,000 will be local. The emergency services – health care, fire brigade and police – will be operational throughout the city and near the Olympic venues.

They will be coordinated by the Integrated Security and Emergency Centre of Madrid (CISEM) that will become the Communications Centre of Emergency during the Games. The different agencies and Organizing Olympic Committee will have direct access to the CISEM during the Games. “The civil protection services of Madrid are ready to respond to any kind of incident that may happen in the streets, homes, establishments and public transport”, Mora stated.

During the Games, every facility will have preventive measures regarding fire brigade, and emergency medical units’ intervention. Venues like the Olympic Stadium, urban circuits or La Gavia will be reinforced according to the specific risk. At the same time, the hotels that accommodate the Olympic authorities will be connected to local communications systems.


An experienced city

Madrid’s experience in Civil Protection is borne out by events like the 1982 World Cup, the 1986 Basketball World Championship, the 2007 Basketball European Championship, the Champions League and the Madrid Marathon. In 2008, 600 sporting events were organized in the city, while the Region has hosted 250 international sporting events in the past 10 years.

Madrid has experience in other big events like the visit of the Pope, the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Asturias, and the cultural White Nights or New Year’s Eve Celebrations, some of them with over a million participants. “Also, unfortunately,” Mora said “we have proven our ability to deal with a great number of casualties in episodes like the terrorist attacks on March 11th 2004. In only an hour we quadrupled our ordinary forces and in an hour and a half we quintupled our human resources.”

Smooth running due to “continuous training of our staff: more than 20,000 hours per year and two monthly drills with police agents, fire brigades and even the military force”. A professionalism that has gone beyond national borders to help in other catastrophes in the world, like Morocco, Peru, El Salvador, Pakistan, Indonesia, Algeria and Iran.

– ENDS –

For further information please call Malcolm Munro on + 44 7795013006

www.madrid2016.es


MEDICAL SERVICES AND DOPING CONTROL

Introduction

Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, Mayor of Madrid


Speakers

Gabriel Masfurroll, President of USP Hospitals

Belén Prado, Health and Infrastructure Vice Councillor of the Region of Madrid

Jesús Mora, Coordinator of Security and Emergency of Madrid

Jaime Lissavetzky, Secretary of Sport