The International Paralympic Committee (IPC), together with the International Federations and the National Paralympic Committees, established the IPC Anti-Doping Code (January 2004) to prevent in the spirit of fair play, doping in sport for athletes with a disability and in conformity with the general principles of the World Anti-doping code (WADC). The IPC Anti-Doping Code provides for the prohibition of doping. Doping is defined as the occurrence of one or more of the anti-doping rule violations set forth in the IPC Anti-Doping Code and includes:

• The presence of a prohibited substance in an athlete’s bodily specimen
• Use or attempted use of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method 
• Refusing or failing to submit to sample collection after notification
• Violation of the requirements regarding athlete availability for out-of-competition testing
• Tampering with any part of doping control
• Possession of prohibited substances and methods
• Trafficking in any prohibited substance or prohibited method
• Administration or attempted administration of a prohibited substance or prohibited method to any athlete, or assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, covering up or any other type of complicity involving an anti-doping rule violation or any attempted violation.

Anti-Doping rules, like Competition rules, are sport rules governing the conditions under which sport is played. All participants (athletes and athlete support personnel) accept these rules as a condition of participation and are presumed to have agreed to comply with the Anti-Doping Code.

Although a few doping tests were performed at the wheelchair component of the 1984 Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain, the first formal testing programme at the Paralympic Games was in Seoul in 1988. Since then, doping controls have been conducted at all Paralympic Games and most World Championships organized by the IPC. In 2004, the IPC agreed with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on an out-of-competition testing programme that was initiated before the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games.

Anti-doping programmes seek to preserve what is intrinsically valuable about sport: "The spirit of sport". Thus, the rationale for doping control in sport is twofold: first, to protect athletes from the potential harmful side effects that some drugs can produce; and second, to ensure fair and ethical competition by preventing athletes from taking prohibited substances or using prohibited methods in an attempt to increase performance or violating the spirit of sport. Sanctions are applied in the event of an anti-doping rule violation of the Anti-Doping Code. The IPC Anti-Doping Code applies to all athletes, coaches, trainers, officials and medical and para-medical personnel working with or treating athletes participating in or preparing for sports competitions within the Paralympic Games, within competitions sanctioned by the IPC and within competitions contested in the framework of the Paralympic Movement. In line with the need to act in the best interests of athletes and other members of the Paralympic Movement, the Code includes provisions to enable appeals to be made, following decisions taken in accordance with the rules.

The WADC Prohibited List is reviewed and updated from time to time by WADA. Recognizing that there may be cases where athletes should be allowed to use prohibited substances on the list for therapeutic purposes, the IPC instituted the Medications Advisory Panel in 1994 (now known as the Therapeutic Use Exemption process). Exemptions may be sought from the IPC Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee, provided that the medication is clinically appropriate and does not offer the athlete an advantage. This process is sport- and case-specific.

There is as much need for doping control in sport for athletes with a disability as there is in able-bodied sport. As the Paralympic Games continue to grow and gain in prestige, the temptation to enhance performance through the use of prohibited substances may well increase. It is the objective of the IPC that national testing of athletes with a disability be integrated into national programmes. The IPC will continue to co-ordinate testing at sanctioned events.