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The need for a resource like the Arctic Health website was identified
some two decades ago. In 1983 the American
Public Health Association (APHA), the Polar Research Board of the
National Academy of Science, and a number of other groups participated
in a series of discussions on arctic health. The outcome was a booklet
published by APHA in 1984, entitled National Arctic Health Science
Policy. It recommended developing
- an arctic health information repository and clearinghouse to provide
ready access by health care and research professionals to previously
published and unpublished articles and reports pertinent to the Arctic
and to provide a system for rapid dissemination of new results, and
- a computerized directory of scientists with arctic health expertise
The genesis of the website did not occur until May 2000, when an international
conference on Arctic Development, Pollution, and Biomarkers of Human Health
was held in Anchorage, Alaska. The conference was organized by the United
States' National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health (NIEHS, NIH) in conjunction
with the Arctic Council's Arctic Monitoring
and Assessment Program (AMAP). Participants brought diverse expertise
and interests to the discussions, ranging from atmospheric chemistry and
glaciology to heavy metal toxicity to high throughput proteomics and RNA
expression techniques. Attendees built consensus and developed recommendations
for AMAP regarding future activities on human biomarkers in the Arctic.
Of the 10 recommendations submitted to AMAP, four were to:
- encourage sensitivity for the culture, lifestyle, interests, and needs
of arctic inhabitants;
- establish, coordinate, and maintain databases on the health of the
arctic environment and its inhabitants;
- promote community outreach and education; and
- promote multidisciplinary partnerships.
Following the conference, the NIH Office of Intramural Research began
an initiative called the Arctic Health Disparities Research Dissemination
Network (AHDRDN). Envisioned as a central point for accessing human health
information, including research, monitoring, education and training, communications,
and outreach activities, the network would be aimed at Alaska Natives
and other indigenous peoples of the Arctic. The National Library of Medicine
(NLM) committed to developing a website to help organize and disseminate
health information relevant to Arctic inhabitants, and in 2001 Arctic
Health was unveiled.
Today a major focus of the website is on providing health information
about and to Alaska Native peoples. One of its aims is to address the
health disparities Alaska Native peoples experience by providing access
to relevant information, including information on traditional healing.
An advisory group of Alaska Natives was created to ensure that the Traditional
Healing section of the website accurately reflects the needs and desires
of Alaska Natives and traditional healers.
NLM transferred responsibility for the continued development of the Arctic
Health website and its long-term management to the UAA Consortium Library's
Health Sciences Information Service July, 2003.
Additional background information can be found at:
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