An unprecedented special survey which gives confidentiality to interviewees and does not allow the presence of relatives or journalists was launched Wednesday.

This is the first time China has probed into its citizen's mental world, taking advantage of the joint efforts of the World Health Organization of the United Nations and the Ministry of Public Health of China.

In Beijing and Shanghai, 200 interviewers identified with name plates Wednesday began visiting the first of 5,500 households.

Chinese citizens randomly chosen were given a fashion-magazine styled questionnaire which contained questions about insomnia, ill-temper and intimacies like sex inclination. Some interviews up to 3 hours.

Relatives of the interviewees were asked to leave as the interviewer and interviewee proceeded with their tete-a-tete, something quite new for the gregarious Chinese people.

"It is a big step for China to take so much effort to protect privacy." said an interviewer with the Beijing-based research center which was reluctant to reveal its name.

The survey is expected to be completed in two months.

Interviewers include social workers, college students and retired people, according to the practices of the WHO.

"It is hugely significant for the world as China has one fifth of the world's population." Prof. Huang Yueqin of Beijing University said.

The ongoing survey is part of the WHO's 2001 World Health Survey.

"This is the first time that China has looked at the social burden caused by mental health problems." Prof. Xu Yifeng of Shanghai Mental Health Care Center told Xinhua. "It will provide fundamental information for both policy-making and basic mental health work."

In the past people with mental health problems have been discriminated against. However, psychiatric treatment is now carried out across the country, and even in jails.

"I've heard nothing about the survey, but it sounds quite natural to me," said Jiang Ping, a director of a neighborhood committee in Beijing. "People want to be happy as they eat and dress better."

The increase in mental health problems is drawing the attention of Chinese government. The Ministry of Public Health said last month that 16 million Chinese citizens suffer from mental health problems with the incidence rising to 17.4 percent.

More competitiveness and the collapse of traditional social relationships due to drastic social changes are blamed for the increasing mental health problems.

Many sufferers do not get medical support because of insufficient funds, equipment, professional workers and information.

Chinese president Jiang Zemin wrote a letter in March to Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, general director of WHO, stressing China's determination to create a friendly society for the mentally ill.

Beijing and Shanghai have established efficient supervision networks for the mentally ill and were selected as the survey cities.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2001)