There is always a huge amount to be learnt from equity strategy and interventions in other countries. I presented a lecture on health equity strategy in Ontario and Canada to a seminar of public health professors and other leaders in Berlin.
One particularly innovative policy in Germany is that a small percentage of health insurance funds must be devoted to health promotion, and a proportion of that to equity-focused interventions with health disadvantaged populations. While the percentage is small, it amounts to considerable funds overall, and supports a great deal of community-based innovation and intervention. Investing up-stream in these ways is a key lesson our governments would do well to follow.