Health and education officials are to work together to help prevent the spread of measles in schools.
A poster at a medical centre warns against the spread of measles. Photo: RNZ / Rob Dixon
The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education say they'll do this under a memorandum of understanding signed by both parties.
They said there have been more than 1800 cases of measles this year, most in unvaccinated people or those who don't know if they're fully vaccinated against measles.
The memorandum will allow information about schools' overall vaccination rates to be calculated by the Ministry using national immunisation register data.
That information will then be shared with local public health officers to help them better understand school immunity rates against measles.
The agreement will also allow for information on individual students' vaccination status to be given to local public health officers.
Both ministries say the memorandum complies with the Privacy Act and will remain in place until the current outbreak is over.