A draft of the updated Procedure for medical care for children in ophthalmology was presented.

If the document is approved, the order of the Russian Ministry of Health No. 442n of October 25, 2012, “On approval of the Procedure for providing medical care to children with diseases of the eye, its adnexa, and orbit,” will cease to be valid.

Currently, medical care in this area can be provided on an outpatient basis, in day care, or in a 24-hour hospital. The regulator proposes adding a clause "outside the medical facility." For example, at the location where an ambulance crew is called or in a medical evacuation vehicle.

The Ministry of Health also presented a division into three groups of clinics providing medical care to children with diseases of the eye, its adnexa, and orbit.

The first group is proposed to include clinics that provide primary healthcare. They must include a pediatric ophthalmology clinic. The department intends to include medical organizations that can provide specialized (excluding high-tech) medical care in the second group. Such institutions must have a pediatric ophthalmology department, an anesthesiology and resuscitation department (or) a resuscitation and intensive care unit, a functional diagnostics department or a functional diagnostics room, an X-ray room or X-ray department, a clinical diagnostic laboratory (level 1 or 2), and the ability to conduct consultations using telemedicine technologies.

According to the draft order, the third group, "A," will include clinics providing specialized medical care, including high-tech ones. These organizations must have a pediatric ophthalmology department, anesthesiology and intensive care units, a functional diagnostics department, an X-ray department (including a computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging room), a clinical diagnostic laboratory (level 2 or 3), and the ability to conduct consultations using telemedicine technologies. These facilities also provide for the establishment of a regional (territorial, republican, provincial, or district) consultative and diagnostic center. The third group, "B," includes organizations under the jurisdiction of federal executive authorities.

The draft document establishes that if it is impossible to medically evacuate a child to a pediatric ophthalmology department, ambulance teams may deliver him or her to the nearest medical facility along the route, which has a 24-hour emergency department, an anesthesiology and resuscitation department, an X-ray department equipped with a stationary X-ray machine (except for dental ones) or an MRI machine, and a clinical diagnostic laboratory.

If a clinic does not have a specialized pediatric department, then inpatient medical care for children with diseases of the eye, its adnexa, and orbit can be provided in the adult ophthalmology department.

The regulator also proposes changes to the recommended staffing standards for the pediatric ophthalmology office, the vision care office, and the consultative and diagnostic office for the identification and monitoring of children with retinopathy of prematurity. For each of these offices, the position of orderly has been eliminated. For the pediatric department, the following positions have been eliminated: operating room nurse and orderly, ophthalmologist, ward/procedure room nurse, junior nurse, and orderly for the day hospital.

In early September 2025, the Ministry of Health also presented a draft Procedure for the Provision of Medical Care to the Adult Population in Ophthalmology. The regulator proposed approving the bed capacity, equipment, and recommended staffing standards of federal medical organizations based on scientific research and advances in fundamental medicine and clinical ophthalmology. The current regulations do not include such a provision.

The new provisions also require medical care to be based on clinical guidelines and allow the use of telemedicine for medical consultations. The new document contains rules for transplantation and care for patients diagnosed with cancer. The order has not yet been approved.