The Ireland and Northern Ireland Population Health Observatory (INIsPHO) events programme is an important vehicle for disseminating the work of the Observatory as well as that of other producers and users of health intelligence.

The events are used to:

• launch new reports or resources;
• inform and stimulate discussion of particular health topics;
• strengthen networks in the public health community.

The programme includes:

• the bi-annual All-Ireland Health Intelligence (AIHI) conference; 
• the Observatory seminar series.

We co-host these events with other agencies.

All-Ireland Health Intelligence
The inaugural AIHI conference, held in November 2006, was a seminal event in the development of the health intelligence function on the island of Ireland. Similar conferences will be run in 2009 and 2010. 

AIHI 2009 will include invited speakers, plenary sessions, exhibits and demonstrations, posters and workshops, and satellite meetings. It will also be used to help develop the Observatory’s knowledge translation strategy.

Materials from AIHI 2006 can be accessed here.

INIsPHO seminar series
The Observatory has so far conducted three seminars in 2008:

• Inaugural event of the Health Analysts’ Special Interest Group - March, Dublin
• Meeting of the Health Analysts’ Special Interest Group - April, Belfast
• Launch of two new all-Ireland suites of local health inequalities indicators - August, Dublin

In August 2008, a total of 101 delegates had participated in our seminars. A further meeting of the Health Analysts' Special Interest Group is planned for November 2008.

During 2007, the Observatory conducted a number of lunchtime seminars on a range of topics:

• Recent Reforms of the Public Health System in Wales – April, Dublin
• Metadata and the National Public Health Language – June, Dublin
• Promoting a Systematic All-Ireland Approach to Monitoring the Population Prevalence of Diabetes – September, Belfast
• "Sharing Information and Getting the Most out of it": Launch of the Health Data Inventory – November, Dublin
• A Comparison of Injury Mortality Across the Five Countries of Ireland and Britain – December, Dublin.

A total of 87 delegates attended our seminars in 2007.

Contact: Brian Ward