China to step up efforts to enhance mental health

BEIJING - China will step up its efforts to enhance the people's mental health, as the country aims to improve the rate of treatment of depression by 80 percent by 2030, according to an action plan made public Monday.

The Healthy China Action (2019-2030) plan was devised and issued by a special committee recently established by the State Council.

China is seeing an increasing number of people with mental disorders and behavior problems, and the public still have limited knowledge of such issues, lacking an awareness of how to prevent and deal with them, the plan says.

It puts forward measures for authorities to carry out, including promoting knowledge on mental health via various forms and platforms, setting up more community-based consulting rooms in terms of mental health, and improving the ranks of practitioners by creating more relevant college majors and positions.

The plan also gives suggestions on how individuals, families and society can improve the overall mental health situation, such as by using more scientific methods to ease pressure, ensuring enough sleep, giving full play to the role of mental healthcare institutions, and enhancing mental health education among new employees and students.