SDWG Arctic Human Health Experts Group (AHHEG) Update September 22, 2015
Co-Chairs: Thomas Hennessy (US, CDC) and Cody Chip (US, AIA)
AHHEG Meetings
-In-person meeting held June 8, 2015 in Oulu, Finland at the 16thInternational Congress of Circumpolar Health (ICCH16). Meeting notes reviewed and distributed to representatives. See separate attachment.
- Next meeting will be an internet-based virtual meeting from Oct 20 – 30, with a special workshop on the One Health initiative to occur Oct 20 in Anchorage in conjunction with SAO meeting.
AHHEG representatives
-Representatives have been named from 6 of the Arctic Nations and 5 of 6 Permanent Participant organizations. To be named are representatives from Canada, Sweden and Inuit Circumpolar Council.
AHHEG Work plan
1. Existing Projects
A. Mental Wellness, initiated during Canadian chairmanship. Complete and reported to SDWG.
B. Cancer in Circumpolar Regions. Report complete and delivered to SDWG
C. Indigenous Research Ethics. POC Ann-RagnhildBroderstad (Sami Council)
Plan is to collate and report on existing guidelines for research in indigenous communities in the Arctic region. Goal is to identify common features and desired attributes of such ethical guidelines and provide a reference for communities and research interested in implementing or updating such guidance.
2. New Initiatives
- Reducing the Incidence of Suicide in Indigenous Groups – Strengths United through Networks (RISING-SUN)
Lead Agency: Pamela Collins (US, NIMH). AHHEG POC: Cody Chip (AIA), Solfrid Johansen (NO), Christina Viskum-Larsen (DK)
This initiative is led by the United States (U.S.) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of Global Affairs in the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of State, and co-sponsored by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Institute of Public Health (Denmark) and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
RISING SUN builds on the mental wellness initiative of the Canadian Chairmanship: “Sharing Hope: Circumpolar Perspectives on Promising Practices for Promoting Mental Wellness and Resilience.” The overall goal of RISING SUN will be to produce a toolkit that enables communities, governments, and key stakeholders to measure the effectiveness of suicide prevention interventions in indigenous Arctic communities. The project will be conducted over the course of 2 years.A call for nominations went out over the summer to elicit key individuals identified for a Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) from across member states and permanent participants. The goal of the SAG will be to develop and carrying forward a plan to achieve the aims of RISING SUN. In addition to the creation of the SAG, the Co-Sponsors of the initiative hosted the first of three regional gatherings to elicit input on the initiative from indigenous community members, clinical professionals, and researchers on September 19-20, 2015 in Anchorage, Alaska.The objectives of this first gathering was to review the suicide prevention landscape, communicate best practices and accomplishments across Arctic communities, articulate the scope of the RISING SUN initiative, and receive key stakeholder input. The gathering was successful, as multiple stakeholder groups provided relevant information to shape the initiative moving forward, with the inclusion of rich local, traditional knowledge. While the gathering had a greater Alaska emphasis, it is anticipated that the future gatherings will include an emphasis from the local context of the hosting nations/regions. The next gathering is anticipated to be held in Tromso, Norway, in spring 2016, followed by another gathering in either Denmark or Canada in the fall of 2016.
Following the first regional gathering of the initiative, the SAG also met for the first time in Anchorage. The action items established during the SAG meeting included identifying local champions to carry-forward a consensus building framework to identify the best measures to assess suicide prevention efforts throughout the Arctic throughout broadly defined regions (i.e., Scandinavia, Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Russia). The group identified the Delphi model as the primary mechanism to build a consensus of information related to the goal, with the anticipation of each region potentially expanding their data collection efforts to enhance the core Delphi process. The development of the expanded data collection efforts is in development at this time.
B. Improving Health through Safe and Affordable Access to Household Running Water and Sewer.
POC Tom Hennessy (US CDC)
This initiative has two components:
1.A comparison of water and sanitation services across the Arctic and to describe the water-related health conditions in each area. A report is planned that will highlight the current conditions and identify best practices for water service in a changing Arctic environment. Details to include proportion of population with service, health indicators, environmental vulnerabilities, economic considerations and innovations. Next steps include development of a survey instrument to be di use by each nation
2.A circumpolar conference is being planned in Anchorage in Fall 2016 to bring together researchers, engineers, manufacturers and vendors, and health experts to discuss health benefits, challenges and solutions associated with making running water and sewer in small Arctic and Sub-Arctic communities safe, affordable and sustainable. In particular, it is showcasing the State of Alaska’s “Alaska Water and Sewer Challenge”, an initiative that addresses the need for decentralized/“in-home” water and wastewater treatment, recycling, and usage reduction systems in cold climates. This Challenge will award grants to incentivize innovative technologies that provide water needed for healthful living in rural communities. Ongoing Alaska-based pilot projects of the Water and Sewer Challenge will have results available in 2016. The United States will host an international conference of researchers, engineers, manufacturers, vendors, and health experts to ensure clean, safe, affordable and reliable water and sewer services in small Arctic and near-Arctic communities.
A similar meeting has been planned independently in Sisimiut, Greenland for April 2016 (ARTEK 2016) by the Technical University of Denmark. Tom Hennessy will meet with the organizers in Copenhagen on Sept 30 to explore options for collaboration with the WASH initiative.
- Arctic One Health Initiative
Lead: Bruce Ruscio, Josh Glasser (US DOS), Tom Hennessy (US CDC)
Developed to address the complex health issues at the environment, human and animal interface for the early identification, prevention and mitigation of health risks. The goal of this initiative is to encourage the practice of a One Health approach across the Arctic. Specific steps will be to assess the status of One Health activities and capacities in the region by creating a report. Also, to support development of One Health collaborations among nations and permanent participant groups to foster this holistic approach.
A special One Health session was held at ICCH16, with examples of how this approach is being used in Arctic regions. A paper on the topic by the leads was published in the International Journal of Circumpolar Health in Sept 2015. (
An introductory workshop on One Health will be held Oct 20 in Anchorage to describe the principals and current practice of One Health approaches. This will be recorded and shared with AHHEG members who cannot be in attendance.
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