The Council of Europe has joined the European Commission’s HealthyLifestyle4All initiative, a “two-year campaign with the aim of promoting healthy lifestyles for all, across generations and social groups, by linking sport and active lifestyles with health, food and other policies”, through a pledge to conduct a study on the health risks of doping by amateurs.

Sport plays an important role in the protection of health, but the use of doping substances and methods by those practicing sport persists, with severe consequences.

Through its Anti-Doping Convention (ETS No. 135), which defines "sportsmen and sportswomen" as those who participate regularly in organised sports activities, State Parties address doping not only in elite sport but also in a much broader context, including sport organisations, federations, fitness centers at the regional, local and national levels. The Monitoring Group to the Anti-Doping Convention (T-DO) gathers the necessary expertise and acts as a forum where the study findings can form the basis of possible future activities and policy initiatives, ultimately leading to a healthier lifestyle for European citizens.

The Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr. Bjørn Berge, presented this pledge during his intervention at the EU Sport Forum High-level panel – ‘European Sport: fair, inclusive and fit for the future’ on 16 June, and underlined the importance of Sport as a unifying force for social cohesion and human rights: “we want a sport for all: for migrants, for refugees, for minorities, for vulnerable groups”.