Health Minister Tony Ryall has launched the first of eight new programmes to fight rheumatic fever in children at Irongate primary school in the Hastings suburb of Flaxmere.
The programmes are being funded by $12 million announced in the Budget.
Mr Ryall says the programmes target areas where there is a high incidence of what is an entirely preventable disease.
Other programmes will be rolled out in Northland, South Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Porirua over the new few weeks.
