Jiang, who is currently on a six-nation tour of Latin America, made the remarks in a statement to Gro Harlem Brundtland, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO).

His message was read at a seminar held by the Ministry of Health in Beijing to mark World Health Day 2001 on Saturday.

This year's day was dedicated to mental health under the theme: "stop exclusion, dare to care."

A nationwide survey shows that in recent years Chinese people are becoming increasingly vulnerable to such illnesses as depression, neurosis, alcoholism, drug dependence and senile dementia, health minister Zhang Wenkang said at the seminar.

Official statistics indicate that roughly 16 million Chinese are currently suffering mental disorders.

Now, China has established a basic framework for mental health care to be applied by health organizations and professionals, the minister noted.

However, there is a gap between services and the demand for mental health care, especially in some remote rural areas.

People affected by mental disorders often suffer from discrimination because of a misunderstanding about their conditions.

Experts at the seminar said people who recover from a mental illness often found it hard to gain employment.

Zhang said that educating the public about mental health must be done gradually to eliminate the stigma suffered by those with mental disorders, and create a humanitarian social environment to care for psychiatric patients.

Meanwhile, the ministry will speed up the process of drafting the country's first mental health law to protect legal rights of the patients as and doctors.

In recognition of the growing burden of mental illness, the Ministry of Health is rapidly drafting the National Mental Health Programme (2001-05) to deepen reform of the present system of mental health care.

Under the programme, the country will popularize the new psychiatric rehabilitation model which is open, community-based and comprehensive, and broaden the coverage of mental health services.

More mental health professionals will be trained to meet the increasing needs of rural areas which currently have 110,000 mental patient beds and 13,000 mental disorder specialists.

A 5-year-long mental health training project was also launched on Saturday at the Mental Health Institute of Peking University to provide advanced mental health care knowledge for clinical doctors of psychology from across the country.

China is grateful to the assistance of international organizations like the WHO, and "the Chinese Government is ready to continue to strengthen its co-operation with the WHO and to push forward overall health development including mental health," Jiang Zemin said.

Some 400 million people in the world currently suffer from mental disorders. In about half the countries of the world, people with mental problems do not receive the basic attention they need, said Janos Annus, a WHO representative in China.

(China Daily 04/09/2001)