Seven medical specialists from New Zealand are travelling to the remote northern Cook Islands to provide medical care there.
The group, jointly funded by the Cook Islands government and the New Zealand aid programme, is travelling on the Cook Islands police maritime surveillance vessel Te Kukupa.
The vessel will call first at Palmerston and then make stops in Nassau, Pukapuka, Manihiki, Rakahanga and Penrhyn.
The director of Outer Islands Health Services, Helen Sinclair, says months of planning had gone into the trip - the first in four years.
She says areas identified as needing help include ophthalmology, cardiology, paediatrics and mental health.
