Prime Minister John Howard has launched a partnership program with mining company Rio Tinto aimed at improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

The $5.2 million project will target prenatal exposure to alcohol and tobacco, and focus on developing health care strategies within Indigenous communities.

John Howard says the partnership will only succeed if there is cooperation at all levels.

"If the evident and proven and unacceptable disadvantage of Indigenous people within this country is to be comprehensively tackled it must be on the basis of the involvement of governments, the Indigenous people themselves and also in partnership with the private sector," Mr Howard said.