Why should newborn eye screening be done as early as possible?

In 1999, the World Health Organization (WHO) and six other international blindness prevention organizations launched the “Vision 2020, a global campaign to eliminate avoidable blindness and enjoy the right to see” initiative. Recent surveys have shown that most parents are not aware that healthy children should also be screened for eye disease, and few parents take the initiative to bring their young healthy children for eye screening. In fact, the development of the human eye does not happen overnight, and the development of the eye in the early years of life is very critical. In particular, the development of the eye is critical during the first year of life. Often, eye disease in the early years of life affects the health of the baby’s vision for the rest of his or her life. A significant number of early eye diseases can be improved or even cured through treatment. Therefore, in 2013, China’s Health Planning Commission issued the Technical Specification for Children’s Eye and Vision Care, which requires healthy children to receive their first eye screening within one month of birth.