The tradition of New Zealand Health stamps goes back to 1929 when the first Health stamp was issued. Revenues from this semi-postal series funded youth camps. Boy Scouts did their National Good Turn by selling these semi-postal stamps door to door, turning the proceeds over to the Post Office.

Christchurch and Wellington served as the location of the first day of issue.  The camp names are also noteworthy for philatelic collectors seeking specific cancels. These were: Glenelg Health Camp, Otaki Health Camp, Maunu Health Camp, Roxburgh Health Camp, Pakuranga Health Camp, Rotorua Health Camp, and Gisborne Health Camp.

The 1953 NZ Health issue are two of the ONLY four Scout stamps using Morse Code.  The Boy Scout stamp spells out the words "New Zealand Health" and the Girl Scout stamp spells out "Health" with dots and dashes in the border design.  The message is barely visible around the edge.

1944 NZ Health   1953 NZ Health