Roaring Success of UIAA MedCom Paper

The UIAA Medical Commission is delighted to report the overwhelming response to its paper ‘Drug Use and Misuse in the Mountains: A UIAA MedCom Consensus Guide for Medical Professionals’ which was published in 2016.

The paper has been downloaded over 10,000 times and has proved a valuable resource for medical professionals from around the world. To read, and download, the paper please click here.

A comprehensive list of all UIAA MedCom advice and recommendation papers can be found on the UIAA website. The papers are translated in over 15 different languages.

The aim of the Drug Use and Misuse in the Mountains review is to inform mountaineers about drugs commonly used in mountains. For many years, drugs have been used for various reasons in mountaineering –  such as to prevent illness, treat illness, or enhance performance. It is the UIAA Medcom’s duty to protect mountaineers from possible harm caused by uninformed drug use. The UIAA Medcom assessed relevant articles in scientific literature and peer-reviewed studies, trials, observational studies, and case series to provide information for physicians on drugs commonly used in the mountain environment. Recommendations were graded according to criteria set by the American College of Chest Physicians.

For further details on the work of the UIAA MedCom, a recent interview with Commission President George Rodway is available here.