New Year, New Look at Health and Well-Being in the Arctic
The new year has just begun but 2011 is already shaping up to be another exciting year for Eye on the Arctic.
First up, Eye on the Arctic partners located in places ranging from Alaska to Scandinavia are rolling up our sleeves and getting to work on an ambitious series of reports exploring health and well-being in the circumpolar world.
Climate change has brought geopolitical, economic and environmental issues in the Arctic to the forefront. Many experts believe this focus on the North by everyone from policy makers to media makes it a ripe moment to get Arctic health issues higher on the agenda.
A recent article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests better links between circumpolar nations could go a along way to improving health care in Canada’s North.
Elsewhere, the United Nations State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples report suggests intercultural health care systems that respect and integrate aboriginal knowledge could help improve the overall health of indigenous communities worldwide.
These are just some of the issues Eye on the Arctic is planning to explore.
We’re hoping our series of radio, video and print stories from across the circumpolar world will give Eye on the Arctic visitors a comprehensive snapshot of the state of health and well-being in the Arctic. What’s working and what’s not? What can different Arctic regions learn from each other?
One week from now, the Radio Canada International team heads off to Nunavut and Nunavik to start work on our contributions to the series. We’ll be looking at the Northern health care crisis from the views of several Arctic communities and most importantly, we’ll be introducing you to some of the remarkable people across the Arctic who are stepping up and making profound changes in the health and well-being of their communities.
We hope you stay tuned.