Unemployed or low-income people with mental illnesses will be
given free treatment, health authorities in Shanghai said
yesterday.
The pioneering policy was launched on the 15th World Mental
Health Day, and is expected to help at least 20,000 people in the
metropolis.
"Among the city's 520,000 disabled people, 160,000 are mentally
disabled. However, many of them cannot get proper and timely
treatment due to financial difficulties," said Luo Zhikun, deputy
board director of Shanghai Disabled People's Association.
"Given basic medical treatment, they can regain normal social
life."
Officials say the government will invest around 11 million yuan
(US$1.37 million) annually in the programme. Those covered by the
policy are registered Shanghai residents who are unemployed,
without social medical insurance or whose families are considered
poverty-stricken.
They can get free drugs from community health care centers in
their neighborhood.
Officials from Shanghai Health Bureau say the policy is aiming
to increase the overall treatment rate for mentally ill patients,
which reached 60 percent in 2005.
Central authorities have set a nationwide goal for mental health
treatment of 60 percent by 2010.
"Getting treatment is a practical right that mentally ill
patients should enjoy. Shanghai's policy, the first in China, marks
a big step forward in caring for this group," said Professor Zhang
Mingyuan, honorary president of the Chinese Society of
Psychiatry.
(China Daily October 12, 2006)