| Summary: | "Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Disease in the Arctic (presented in part to the sustainable working grou meetings in Anchorage, May 16 1999, Washington DC, November 17 1999, Fairbanks April 26-28, and the AMAP Human Health Expert Group meeting, Ottawa, Canada September 20-22 1999) I. Project Goal Establish an integrated International Circumpolar Surveillance(ICS) system through a network of hospital and public health laboratories Authorities throughout the Arctic. II. Issues to be addressed A. Relevance and Importance Arctic populations have long endured the debilitating effects of both endemic and epidemic infectious diseases, the effects of which have impacted social and economic development in circumpolar regions of the globe. With the advent of antibiotics, tuberculosis and other life threatening infections seemed conquerable. The incidence of diseases of childhood such as diphtheria, whooping cough, and meningitis were reduced dramatically through the use of vaccines. These advances, together with improvements in sanitation and water quality, dramatically lowered the incidence of infectious diseases in many peoples throughout the developing world including those of the Arctic. However, as we enter the 21st Century, the specter of new virulent and antibiotic- resistant forms of old diseases such as tuberculosis, measles, diphtheria, and meningitis once again is threatening circumpolar communities. Our communities are now faced by a number of newly emerging diseases, such as HIV, hepatitis C, and a host of food and waterborne illnesses. Moreover several infectious agents have now been commonly associated with the development of malignancies in Arctic peoples: hepatitis B virus and, hepatitis C virus (liver cancer), Helicobacter pylori (gastric cancer), human papilloma virus (cervical cancer), Epstein-Barr virus (nasopharyngeal cancer)." /./
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