China faces huge challenges in prevention and control of mental health problems, experts and officials warned Tuesday.

Mental and neural diseases are the most costly diseases in China, accounting for 20 percent of medical spending, the Ministry of Health revealed yesterday.

Poverty, the lack of medical insurance for millions of sufferers, substandard medical service and poor public awareness are the main issues of concern, said Mao Qun'an, spokesman of the ministry.

Furthermore, no nationwide investigation has been undertaken to find out exactly how many people are suffering from mental illness.

Ministry estimates indicate China has in the region of 16 million people suffering from mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and depression.

The country has 6 million epilepsy sufferers.

There are about 30 million youngsters aged under 17 in China who suffer from various psychological problems, such as depression, caused by heavy study burden.

"China has a number of problems in tackling mental diseases, both in the medical treatment field and in intervention," Mao said at a press conference yesterday on the 15th World Mental Health Day.

One difficulty is that China has a serious shortfall of qualified psychiatrists, Mao said.

The total number of professional mental doctors is 20,000. Among them, only 6,000 people have got undergraduate-level education, said Yu Xin, director of Peking University Institute of Mental Health.

In south China's Guangdong Province, there is a desperate shortage of psychiatrists.

"The province has only got about 2,000 psychiatrists, while 1.2 million people need mental health treatment," said Jia Fujun, director of Guangdong Mental Health Research Institute.

"That means 600 patients have to share one doctor."

And the quantity and quality of mental hospitals are also far from adequate, Yu said.

"Mental hospitals are usually located in suburban, rural or even remote areas, because people regard mental health sufferers as dangerous and think they should be kept away."

Another obstacle stopping patients receiving medical treatment is poverty.

About 80 per cent of rural residents and 40 percent of urbanites have no medical insurance.

For example, Beijing has 130,000 registered "severely psychotic" patients, but 70 percent of them have no access to free medicine and about 60 percent are not receiving medical care due to a lack of medical professionals and funds, the municipal health bureau said earlier this year.

"In China, HIV/AIDS and TB sufferers can get free medical treatment. But mental disease patients, who can put great pressure on and pose potential danger to their families and society, cannot receive free care," Yu said.

In early 2005, the central government launched a program in 30 provinces and regions to help poor people suffering serious mental illnesses get care and treatment.

A total of 60 pilot sites, half of them in rural areas, have been established. In every site 1,000 patients are registered and given free medical treatment.

A total of 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) was invested in the program, which will end in December.

Moreover, as society continues to undergo dramatic change many new mental problems will surface, Yu said. He noted that anxiety, depression, and other disorders caused by bad life habits including drug and alcohol abuse, are affecting more and more people.

Experts estimate that 100 million people in the country may be suffering from different mental diseases and disorders, Xinhua News Agency reported in late September.

In north China's Hebei Province, a survey conducted on 24,000 people aged over 18 showed the total incidence of "mental disease" was 14 percent. More women were suffering than men, and more rural residents suffering than urbanites.

(China Daily October 11, 2006)