Human health at the ends of the earth.

The genesis of this special issue ‘Human Health at the ends of the earth’ was stimulated by the reinvigorated interest in promoting circumpolar health during the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2008. The IPY occurs approximately every 50 years and is a major international polar research program intended to expand the boundaries of our understanding of the Polar Regions. However unlike previous polar years (1882–1883, 1932–1933 & 1957–1958) the 4th Polar Year, for the first time, focused significant attention to the human dimension of Arctic research, and in particular circumpolar health and wellbeing.