International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

work for Circumpolar Research (INCHR) (EoI no. 516).
This is a voluntary network of individual researchers,
research trainees, and supporters of research based
in academic research centres, Indigenous people’s organizations,
regional health authorities, scientific and
professional associations and government agencies,
who share the goal of improving the health of the residents
of the circumpolar regions through international
cooperation in scientific research (www.inchr.com).
Another network that facilitated connections
among more than 145 researchers in natural, health
and social sciences from universities and institutions
(or agencies) in Canada, Denmark-Greenland, France,
Japan, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, United
Kingdom and U.S.A. was ArcticNet. Through this network,
scientists connected with partners from Inuit organizations,
communities, federal and territorial agencies
to study the impacts of climate change in coastal
regions (www.arcticnet.ulaval.ca).
The Arctic Health Research Network (AHRN) was
launched as a Canadian contribution to IPY 2007–2008
(EoI no. 449 - www.arctichealth.ca/aboutahrn.html).
The AHRN is based in the three northern territories
and a provincial region of Canada and has four sites in
Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Labrador.
Each site is independent and is registered under
territorial societies act and are governed by a board
of directors. The AHRN supports activities which build
sustainable health research infrastructure in the north
as well as engage northern partners in health research
projects.
Data Resources
A key focus of International Polar Year was to
create a legacy of data resources; thus it was not
surprising to see the enhancement and development
of networks that focus on data sharing among
circumpolar countries. These health data initiatives
were featured and contributed to discussions
around the establishment of well coordinated and
Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) (www.
arcticobserving.org - Chapter 3.8).
It is recognized that several human health monitoring
networks already exist and could form the basis
for the components of SAON related to human health.
The following section highlights health data initiatives
which could contribute to the SAON Human Health
component. Established in 1999, the International
Circumpolar Surveillance (ICS) system is an integrated
population-based infectious disease surveillance network
system, linking hospital and public health laboratories
in the Arctic Circumpolar countries (U.S.A./
Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Norway and Finland)
(Parkinson, 2008, Parkinson et al., 2008) (Fig.
2.11-3). Accomplishments during IPY included an expansion
of surveillance to include tuberculosis, an effort
to include northern regions of the Russian Federation
in this system, and the establishment circumpolar
working groups to focus on research aspects of viral
hepatitis, diseases caused by Helicobacter pylori and
sexually transmitted infections (EoI no. 1150). While
the International Circumpolar Surveillance network is
currently focused on prevention and control of infectious
diseases, the network can be adapted to monitor
and respond to other non-infectious Arctic human
health priorities and, therefore, serves as a model as
an Arctic Observing Network for human health (www.
arcticobserving.org).
The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program
(AMAP) of the Arctic Council has been coordinating circumpolar
monitoring and assessment of atmospheric
pathways, biota impacts, food chain dynamics and
human health issues for environmental contaminants
since 1991 (www.amap.no/). The contaminants have
included persistent organic pollutants (POP’s-both historic
and emerging compounds), metals and radionuclides
of concern in the circumpolar world (Fig. 2.11-4).
The AMAP Human Health Assessment Group (HHAG)
has members in all eight circumpolar countries and
has completed three assessments on the human health
impacts of arctic environmental contaminants (AMAP,
1996, 2002, 2009). These assessments include human
monitoring data, dietary studies, health effects studies
and risk management strategies to mitigate the effects
of contaminants.
The Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SliCA,
IPY no. 386) itself is an interdisciplinary and international
research project, which was founded in 1998
(Kruse et al., 2008; Poppel and Kruse, in press). The
project is developed in partnership with the indigenous
peoples organizations (Chapter 2.10). SLiCA has
collected data in Canada, Alaska, Chukotka, Greenland
and Sweden (Poppel et al., 2007) and, by the end of
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