About

The Circumpolar Health Observatory (CircHOB) is an international collaborative health information system, involved in systematic, standardized, and consistent data collection and analysis. In addition to aggregating online and print resources, CircHOB is population-based, and produces data for all northern regions in all circumpolar countries.

CircHOB’s purpose is to monitor trends and patterns in health status, health determinants, and health care, as well as providing qualitative and quantitative evidence for planning and evaluation of health programs and services. It is on-going and sustainable with periodic updates.

The Observatory is located at the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research, Yellowknife, NT. The Institute houses a physical library, a Statistics Canada Research Data Centre, and a repository of both print and electronic resources drawn from across the circumpolar world.

CircHOB has its origins in the 2008 Circumpolar Health Supplement entitled, “Circumpolar Health Indicators: Sources, Data and Maps.” The original monograph is available for download below.

CircHOB produces periodic Data Briefs and journal articles highlighting specific aspects of the data collection. These are available in the Publications section.

CircHOB was originally a project proposed by the Arctic Human Health Expert Group and authorized by the Arctic Council at its Senior Arctic Officials meeting in May 2010. In January 2011, CircHOB was also accepted by Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) as an official Canadian task. Initial funding for CircHOB was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Health Canada.