One of the major activities of the Union is the sponsorship of the International Congress on Circumpolar Health (ICCH), which serves as the primary source of information exchange and scholarly communication in issues relating to circumpolar health. More than 750 participants generally register and participate in each Congress, and more than 400 scientific papers or posters are usually presented.

The involvement of medical scientists, policy and decision makers, Native peoples, and others in the triennial congresses is growing steadily. To date, there have been eleven International Symposia/Congresses. The first was held in Fairbanks (1967), and subsequent sites have been Oulu (1971), Yellowknife (1974), Novosibirsk (1978), Copenhagen (1981), Anchorage (1984), Umea (1987), Whitehorse (1990), Reykjavik (1993), Anchorage (1996), and Harstad (2000).

Proceedings have been publicized for all but one of the Symposia/Congresses.