Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says a record 92% of eligible four-year-olds are receiving a free B4 School Check.
“The B4 School Checks help to give children the best start at school by identifying and addressing any potential health or developmental problems at an early stage,” says Dr Coleman.
“The checks are also supporting families by connecting them to the health and support services they need.”
92 percent of four-year-olds received this free comprehensive health and development check this year. That’s up from 91 percent last year.
This means over 58,600 children and their families have benefitted from this free service in the last year.
“We are over our target of 90 percent and this means we are helping build a solid foundation for the vast majority of four-year-olds before they start school,” says Dr Coleman.
The B4 School Check is the final core Well Child/Tamariki Ora check. Checks are provided free through a range of community health services and include hearing, eyesight, height, weight, and oral health assessments, as well as comprehensive health and development assessment.
The Government invests around $10 million each year to provide the free checks which have benefited more than 300,000 children and their families since the programme began in 2008.
Further information about B4 School Checks is available on the Ministry of Health website,
www.health.govt.nz.
Media contact: Angela Kenealy 021 220 0129