24 Sep 2013

Health sector marks 75 years since Social Security Act

3:19 pm on 24 September 2013

Health experts from around the world are meeting in Auckland to mark the 75th anniversary of the New Zealand health system.

The Social Security Act signed in September 1938 laid the foundations for health principles such as equal access that are still the goal today.

Professor Robin Gauld of Otago University says the system is doing well, but inequalities remain.

Former government statistician Len Cook, who chairs the Medical Training Board, says the challenge will be how best to spread health services in the future according to the available resources.