At the federal and provincial level, population health surveys are carried out at varying intervals. The last national population health survey was conducted by Statistics Canada in 1994 in collaboration with provinces and territories. There are also health surveillance activities in Health Canada and provincial departments of health which generate a significant amount of information on diseases, pathogens and modes of transmission. There are also groups working on the development of commercial applications of research findings. HealNet is a network of such groups, brought together with federal funding.
Consumers also turn to libraries and the Internet in search of information on health matters.
Some clinical practice guidelines are available on the Internet as a doctor's version and in a shorter version intended for the public. As well, news groups on health topics and on specific diseases and conditions are accessible on the Internet, and new ones are formed every day. Most health information initiatives have international connections. While people in all of these organizations or units probably know of each other and read each other's publications, there is no systematic integrated plan to link their work nor is there a clear sense of possible gaps which exist between them. They, nevertheless, constitute an immense resource and represent a considerable investment on which we believe we must build.