The roundtrip to Fairbanks: the circumpolar health movement comes full circle, part II.

OBJECTIVES

Evaluate the course of the International Union for Circumpolar Health (IUCH) and the Proceedings of the International Congress(s) on Circumpolar Health (ICCH) in the context of the concomitant historical events. Make recommendations for future circumpolar health research.

STUDY DESIGN

Medline search and historical archive search of ICCH Proceedings.

METHODS

Search of all PubMed resources from 1966 concerning the circumpolar health movement. Two University of Alaska, Anchorage Archive Collections were searched: the C. E. Albrecht and Frank Pauls Archive Collections.

RESULTS

Fourteen sets of Proceedings manuscripts and one set of Proceedings Abstracts were evaluated. There was a trend towards consistent use of the existing journals with indexing in Index Medicus; shorter intervals between the Congress and Proceedings manuscript publication; and increased online availability of either the Table of Contents or Proceedings citations. Recent additions include online publication of full-length manuscripts and 2 instances of full peer-review evaluations of the Proceedings manuscripts. These trends in Proceedings publication are described within the course of significant events in the circumpolar health movement. During this period, the IUCH funds are at an all-time low and show little promise of increasing, unless significant alternative funds strategies are pursued.

CONCLUSIONS

The IUCH has matured politically over these years, but some of the same questions persist over the years. There has been a trend towards more rapid dissemination of scientific content, more analytic documentation of epidemiologic study design and trend towards wider dissemination of scientific content through the Internet. Significant progress in each of those areas is still possible and desirable. In the meantime, the IUCH should encourage alternative funding strategies by developing a foundation to support on-going expenses, for example Hildes awards; explore venues to finance Council President and At-Large members travel costs; and seek grants to fund special projects, for example special supplements in the IJCH.