In a small country, every person and their potential contribution to society is extremely important. The degree to which the welfare of children and families is invested will sooner or later be reflected in the health of the population, education, crime, employment and the economy. Healthy children can grow into healthy and full members of society. There are approximately a quarter of a million children under the age of 18 in Estonia. The topics covered in the Children's Health Monitoring Guide are extensive. The health check-up guide for children up to 18 years of age, which has been in force until now, was drawn up in 2009. Since a large part of the old guide is still suitable for use, the working group decided to supplement it with up-to-date evidence-based information that would help to make the necessary decisions and implement appropriate interventions when working with children and families. The main task of the primary level is to support the health and well-being of children, young people and families, i.e. the human capital of the Estonian state, and to prevent diseases. As a result of the establishment of primary health centers, it is possible to offer more versatile health services. These services should be equally available to all children in Estonia, regardless of place of residence, social background or financial means of the parents.

The goal is to monitor the health of all children in Estonia based on the same rules:

centrally, consistently, at the regional health center and at school for the child and his family. In order to organize work more efficiently, the division of labor of healthcare workers has been revised. In order to improve the child's health promotion, disease prevention and treatment management, it is necessary to expand and improve the exchange of information between the fields of family medicine, midwifery, school health, specialist medical care, study counseling and child protection. If children's development is monitored and health risks are assessed and screened by a primary health care worker, there is more time for specialist medical care to more effectively treat and monitor children with more serious health problems. A welfare society brings more and more problems with the abundance of opportunities. Therefore, the guide pays attention to the assessment of children's health risks and their screening based on both mental and somatic developmental disorders as well as the socially difficult growing environment. Early detection, diagnosis, timely intervention and treatment of risks can improve the quality of life of children and families and reduce healthcare costs. The update of the guide was initiated by the Department of Children and Families of the Ministry of Social Affairs in cooperation with the Department of Health System Development, whose priorities are prevention, early detection and the organization of appropriate and timely assistance. The update of the manual was started with the support of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism within the project "Integrated service concept for supporting children's mental health". Updating recommendations for child eye examination and visual acuity assessment Guidelines for a child's eye examination and visual acuity assessment differ from country to country. In particular, the eye examination of children differs in what age it is performed, what tests are used, and where and which specialist examines the child. In other parts of the world, a large part of the guidelines regarding a child's eye examination are based on expert opinions. In 2021, the Estonian Society of Family Physicians and the Estonian Society of Ophthalmologists agreed on the e-consultation referral and response requirements when referring a child up to the age of 15 to an ophthalmologist's e-consultation / ophthalmologist. As the options for seeing an ophthalmologist changed, there was a need to update the recommendations regarding eye examination and visual acuity in the "Child Health Monitoring Guide". The treatment manual gives recommendations on at what age the child should have an eye examination and visual acuity assessed, and which eye examination activities are important based on age. The updated information provides an opportunity to evaluate the child's eye examination practice on the same basis throughout the country, to analyze it, to correct and manage it if necessary. The implementation of the treatment manual helps to harmonize the competence of the target group of the treatment manual when performing a child's eye examination. The expected benefit and goal of the recommendations of the treatment guide is the earlier detection of childhood eye pathology and visual acuity decline.