Europe's ministers of health to visit Svalbard, Norway:

Beware of the polar bears

Among polar bears and Arctic foxes in the world's northernmost community, the ministers will start their discussions about health services of the future with the use of ICT as a tool. Norway's Ansgar Gabrielsen (photo), Norway's Minister of Health and Care Services, will be the host for his European counterparts.

Beware of the polar bears
Even if the road signs in Longyearbyen do not warn visitors to look out for polar bears, that's exactly what the cabinet ministers will be informed about when they land on Svalbard on Saturday afternoon. There is a far greater risk of meeting a polar bear face to face than of getting hurt in a traffic accident here. The kingdom of the polar bear is also the home of the unique Svalbard reindeer, the largest bird cliff in the North Atlantic, Arctic foxes, seals, and whales. The ministers will experience this wilderness during a trip on the Coast Guard vessel KV Nordkapp on Sunday morning. The nature of Svalbard also offers fascinating light, dramatic glaciers, sharp peaks and untouched white blankets of snow.

The world's longest fibre cables
In this colourful society with a population of 1800, the ministers will hear about the use of modern technology through the world's longest fibre cables, which have been laid on the seabed from Andøya in Norway to Svalbard. The fibre-based connection meets the needs of Svalbard's residents and tourists for quality health services through communication between Longyearbyen Hospital on Svalbard and the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø, a two-hour flight away. Fibre cables provide giga capacity to the world's northernmost community.

The EU's ambitions for tomorrow's public health service are that it will take care of citizens' growing mobility and, at the same time, their requirements for accessible health services. This is exactly what the ministers will see demonstrated at Longyearbyen Hospital, where the benefit of the cables is highlighted through top-quality modern health services such as Web-based radiography systems, thrombolytic treatment of heart attacks, and emergency medical services accessible via a link with the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø. This benefits the local population as well as visitors from other countries.

Norwegian Space Centre
Wide-ranging international collaboration also takes place on Svalbard in connection with the Norwegian Space Centre, which owns the cable. The same fibre-optic cable that the public health service and the university use provides Norwegian and foreign researchers with new possibilities for communication and collaboration. Foreign researchers can now sit anywhere in the world and work together with colleagues in Longyearbyen.

 

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