Health screening now available to more B.C. children
Courier-Islander
June 30, 2010

The new child health screening regulation under the Public Health Act will ensure that all B.C. children in licensed child-care facilities and school settings have access to child health screening. This regulation is the latest piece of an integrated cross-ministry strategy to address dental, hearing and vision concerns in early childhood.

Government has made the commitment to provide universal access to early screening for vision, hearing and dental disorders for children younger than six years. ….

Public health staff have been offering various screening services in schools for many years, using a process of parent notification with an opt-out provision that allows the parent to decline services. The new regulation formalizes this process. It also allows public health staff to obtain demographic information about children enrolled in a licensed facility so that their parents can be notified and offered child health screening services. ….