Wellington, July 28 NZPA - There will be more services for people in the upper North Island suffering eating disorders, the Government says.

Wellington, July 9 NZPA - A Nelson man allegedly tried to buy a firearm to shoot Cabinet Minister Nick Smith yesterday before a threat forced Dr Smith to close his Nelson office.

Wellington, May 8 NZPA - Critics say the Government has gone too far in reducing the number of health targets it sets. Health Minister Tony Ryall is defending his "slimmed down" set of targets for district health boards, saying he inherited a system bogged down by bureaucracy.

Wellington, May 8 NZPA - Health Minister Tony Ryall is defending his "slimmed down" set of targets for district health boards and says he inherited a system bogged down by bureaucracy. Mr Ryall has announced three hospital targets and three preventative programme targets.

By Kent Atkinson of NZPA Wellington, March 25 NZPA - The downturn hitting the economy will bring a "tsunami" of mental health problems with an increased incidence of depression, anxiety and suicide, Mental Health Commission chairman Peter McGeorge says.

Wellington, March 25 NZPA - Mental Health Commission chairman Peter McGeorge says a mental hospital is not necessarily the right place to keep people such as an 18-year-old autistic woman with the mental age of 11.

Wellington, Dec 3 NZPA - Government plans to introduce tough new sentencing laws and cram extra inmates into existing prisons could trigger a mental health timebomb, the Green Party says.

1. Public Health and Illness Prevention Programmes aimed at health promotion and preventing illness and injury are an investment in the future health of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Their success will have a major bearing on the level of treatment services that are needed in later years.