September 22, 2015 
Testing of visual acuity in four-year-olds is the most reliable way to detect amblyopia, considering that this simple test can detect up to 97% of all the anomalies of the eye ….
In 1995, the World Health Organisation has defined vision as a fundamental right of every person and launched a global initiative to reduce preventable vision loss, inviting all countries to localy contribute to this global initiative by the end of 2020.
In September 2011, the City of Zagreb and the Department of Ophthalmology at the Faculty of Medicine “Josip Juraj Strossmayer” in Osijek and the University Hospital “Sveti Duh” in Zagreb, launched the project “Amblyopia in four-year-old children in the City of Zagreb”, the world’s largest project of its kind in ophthalmology, registered in the largest clinical base of global researches clinicaltrials.gov, by the US National Institutes of Health.
On 30 June 2015, the Department of Ophthalmology at the Faculty of Medicine “Josip Juraj Strossmayer” in Osijek, University Hospital “Holy Spirit”, has been awarded the status of the Referral Center of the Ministry of Health for pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus, with the task of implementation and monitoring of unique doctrine and methodology in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of diseases of this field of medicine.
Testing of visual acuity in four-year-olds is the most reliable way to detect amblyopia, considering that this simple test can detect up to 97% of all eye anomalies.
Because of this, in about ten developed countries, the early screening and treatment of amblyopia are a common public health policy. At the same time, early treatment of amblyopia is among the most cost-effective procedures not only in ophthalmology, but in medicine in general.
Guided by the idea of creating a healthy society, a justification according to the World Health Organization criteria, as well as the global scientific community, and given that it is the testing with the aim of reducing preventable vision loss, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia, from 1 June 2015, introduced the screening of amblyopia as mandatory, and thus ranked Croatia in the world’s list of the best implementation of preventive policies in preserving the health of not only children but prospectively the entire population.
At a regular systematic examination of pediatricians in primary health care of four-year-olds, the child’s parents will get a referral for eye examination and will be ordered on ophthalmic examination. The examination will include testing visual acuity at near and far distances, standardized tests, and based on the findings, the child will be further diagnosied and therapeutically taken care of. The pediatrician will be notified of the test results through the e-health record.
Screening of vision, detection and treatment of amblyopia creates a healthier individual, and therefore the society progress, with the identity recognized in the world for a developed awareness of the importance of children’s health and unquestionable efforts to create a healthy society.
Taken from: www.ordinacija.hr