National believes New Zealanders deserve high-quality health services and delivering better services remains our top priority.
At the same time, we're focused on delivering better results for New Zealanders and their families. That's why this Government has introduced a number of initiatives to give children the best possible start in life.
Around 780,000 children are benefitting from our policy of free GP visits and prescriptions, as well as free after-hours services for all children aged under 13.
To date almost 1.23 million influenza vaccines have been distributed across the country, protecting over a quarter of our population.
There has been a significant reduction in national rheumatic fever rates, dropping 45 per cent since 2012. This shows the $65 million investment the Government has made to prevent rheumatic fever is making a real difference to the young people, families and communities most at risk.