China is trying to speed up enactment of a mental health law focused on the protection and treatment of the mentally ill, health officials and experts have said.

Ministry of Health (MOH) spokesman Mao Qun'an said a bill was inserted into his ministry's 2007 legislation agenda.

It will be sent over to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, next year for reading.

China considers mental illness to include a wide range of ailments including the top three major mental illnesses in the country: schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and depression.

Mao said the law, when enacted, will ensure better treatment and protection for millions of mental illness sufferers.

Focusing more on disease prevention, the law will mainly target the youth, women, seniors and disaster victims as priorities, he said.

Accounting for 20 percent of diseases, mental ailments pose a serious threat to the nation's public health. They not only wreck the lives of patients and their families, but also create a heavy economic burden to society, medical experts have warned.

Statistics from the National Centre for Disease Control suggest that 100 million people are currently suffering from mental ailments of different sorts, a national incidence of 7.7 percent.

Among the 16 million serious sufferers, just 20 percent turn to mental wards for professional treatment.

The other 80 percent are left without care or simply locked in at home, according to official statistics.

While their plight has ignited public sympathy, there has been mounting concern over a potential threat to security from this population.

Many sufferers have been blamed for causing problems that lead to injuries, said Tang Hongyu, deputy director with the School of Mental Health affiliated with Peking University.

A key part of the law would be to reinforce control over those subject to serious mental disorders, Tang noted.

The draft law will guarantee that mental patients get the right to obtain quality medical services and financial support, part of the nation's efforts to improve care and help them return to normal life.

In addition, the law seeks to ensure that discrimination against the mentally ill is eliminated and that medical services are standardized.

It also clearly defines the responsibilities of governments, communities and doctors, Tang said.

China is undergoing rapid changes with increasing social conflicts and pressure, medical experts say. The transformation of family and population structure has given rise to the problem.

Liu Xiehe, a 78-year-old professor at Sichuan University who initiated the mental health legislation in 1985, expressed hope for an early passage.

"The law is committed to protection of not only the mentally ill but the inner peace of the 1.3 billion Chinese," he said.

(China Daily April 19, 2007)