Lottery money to fund mental health facilities

China will invest one billion yuan ($160.1 mln) from lottery sales to build and retrofit mental health welfare facilities, according to plans rolled out at a video conference held on Wednesday.

The funds will be spent on building 20 mental health welfare facilities in 2014 and 2015 across the country, with 30 million yuan for each project, as well as on retrofitting and expanding 20 existing facilities, each getting 20 million yuan, according to the conference held by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.

Mental health welfare facilities refer to those offering services to mental health patients and the mentally challenged among society's most disadvantaged groups, including low-income groups, the homeless, people without income or anyone to support them, and veterans.

There are 261 mental health welfare facilities with 74,000 beds in China, providing services to 60,000 needy people.

It was estimated that there will be more than 10,000 new beds installed in two years as a result of the planned investment with welfare funds raised through the lottery.

According to official statistics, there are approximately 16 million severe mental health patients, 55 percent of whom belong to poor families, and over 60 percent in rural areas.

Civil affairs authorities offer shelter to over 100,000 homeless mental health patients each year, and 10,000 must stay in welfare facilities because they have nowhere else to go.