The EpiNorth project aims to improve communicable disease control and communication in Northern Europe and across the border to Russia. Key objectives of the project are: - Epinorth. Publish a peer-reviewed scientific journal devoted to communicable disease epidemiology and control. - EpiData. Publish an annual report of communicable diseases for Northern Europe. - EpiVax. Maintain a guide to the vaccination programmes in Northern Europe. - EpiNews. Develop a dynamic news service on the web with reports of outbreaks and trends of communicable diseases in Northern Europe. - EpiTrain. Run a training programme in communicable disease epidemiology. - EpiLinks. Maintain a library of web links to communicable disease epidemiology sites in Europe and Russia.

The overall aim of the new EpiNorth project is to improve communicable disease control and communication in Northern Europe and across the border to Russia in order to reduce the spread of such diseases and thus safeguard public health in the Community.

The EpiNorth is a collaborative network that brings together the public health institutes in Northern Europe and maintains links with similar institutes in neighbouring parts of Russia. The project will build on the existing, successful EpiNorth network. Key methods employed include: - EpiNorth. Publish four issues annually and a full-text web version of a peer-reviewed bilingual (English/Russian) journal devoted to communicable disease epidemiology and control, and maintain collaboration with Eurourveillance. - EpiData. Collect the annual reports of communicable diseases from the public health institutes in Northern Europe, including parts of Russia, transmit them to the Community network for the epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable diseases (Decision 2119/98) and publish standardised key figures from these on the EpiNorth web site and write an analytical report for the annual November issue of the EpiNorth journal. - EpiVax. Collect annually information on the vaccination programmes and publish these on the web. - EpiNews. Develop a dynamic news service on the web and collect, transmit them to the Community network for the epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable diseases (Decision 2119/98) and publish reports of outbreaks and trends of communicable diseases in Northern Europe. - EpiTrain. Run an annual two-week training course in epidemiology for key communicable disease professionals with an emphasis on field epidemiology, communication skills, antimicrobial resistance and communicable diseases of public health importance. - EpiLinks. Develop a library of links to communicable disease epidemiology web sites in Europe and Russia.

The EpiNorth web site (www.epinorth.org) will be further developed as a main portal for communicable disease epidemiology and control in Northern Europe with the following sections covering the collaborating EU/applicant/EEA countries and Russian regions: - EpiNorth – the journal in full text, both in html and pdf formats. - EpiData – a simple tabular presentation of annual surveillance data. - EpiVax – a simple tabular presentation of vaccination programmes. - Epinews – a dynamic news section. - EpiTrain – a collection of lectures on communicable disease epidemiology in PowerPoint format. - EpiLinks – a library of links to communicable disease epidemiology web sites in Europe and Russia.