In 1964, a nationwide survey of health and health care utilization in the Finnish population revealed striking inequalities. Finnish citizens living in rural areas, where access to medical services was limited, had higher mortality, and poorer people in Finland were more frequently ill than their higher-socioeconomic status (SES) neighbors, yet less likely to see a doctor. In response, an innovative program, organized at the municipal level, was rolled out in 1972. It provided integrated public health, prevention, and primary health care and services free of charge, and focused on the poorest areas first. A review of health policy by the tripartite Economic Council that same year articulated the joint goals of improving population health and ensuring a more equal distribution of health, a dual formulation that would later be repeated in the WHO’s Health For All agenda (interview FI5). The North Karelia project, Finland’s internationally renowned, multisectoral effort to reduce regional inequalities in cardiovascular mortality, was also launched in 1972.