New Zealand's health minister, Annette King, will seek final approval from the cabinet later this month for the adoption of common standards with Australia on drug marketing, as a way of instituting a ban on advertising prescription only drugs directly to consumers.

New Zealand medical and consumer groups have cautiously welcomed the move as likely to result in the adoption of the Australian standard, which bans such advertising of prescription drugs but allows general campaigns raising awareness of disease.

After a pre-Christmas Cabinet meeting, a brief press release by Ms King said that she had been authorised to …