Introduction and population [2010–1

Abstract

CircHOB is an international, open access, collaborative health information system, involvedin systematic, standardized, and consistent data collection and analysis. It is population-based, and covers all northern regions in all circumpolar countries. CircHOB’s purpose is to monitortrends and patterns in health status, health determinants, and health care, and provide an ongoingand sustainable knowledge base and analytical support for researchers, statisticians, healthcare providers, public health practitioners and policy makers. CircHOB also serves as a resourcefor training and research in population health and health systems and enhances partnerships andcollaborations among health and statistical agencies in circumpolar countries and regions.CircHOB extends and updates the data tables, charts and maps originally published in CircumpolarHealth Indicators as a Circumpolar Health Supplement, the sister publication of the Journal.Currently, its website provides access to the 2000–2004 datasets and associated thematic mappingtools based on UNESCO’s Flash-based StatPlanet software. The datasets are currently beingupdated to 2009 and will also be presented for download and interactive visualization. Referencematerials and statistical reports related to the data are also being catalogued for a fully searchableonline document database.CircHOB is hosted at the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research data center [www.ichr.ca].ICHR research affiliates and staff are responsible for database development and maintenance, dataretrieval, analysis, and presentation.