The development of the Portal was part of a larger federal initiative, which included the creation of PHAC itself, to strengthen public health capacity in Canada in response to experiences with SARS and the recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health.^{Endnote 5} More specifically, the need for a high quality database summarizing current evidence on the effectiveness of population and public health interventions was identified in an earlier report, Charting the Course: A Pan-Canadian Consultation on Population and Public Health Priorities.^{Endnote 6}