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Six New Zealand Navy medics have joined a humanitarian mission in the Pacific on board a United States Navy vessel, USS Peleliu.
Defence Minister Phil Goff said it was the first time New Zealand had been invited to join the annual mission since the anti-nuclear rift of the 1980s.
"The medical team will be providing valuable clinical, medical and dental assistance to people who would not ordinarily have access to high-grade medical treatment," Mr Goff said.
