China's Ministry of Health on Thursday released a modified regulation on the management of serious mental illnesses.

Serious mental illnesses mainly include schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and mental retardation, which may hamper patients' power to control their behaviors and could pose threats to individuals and public security, according to the regulation.

The regulation requires community managers and healthcare organs to immediately report those suspected of having a mental illness to public security departments.

Public security personnel should send patients suspected of having a mental illness to designated local mental health institutions for diagnosis and inform the patients' families within 24 hours.

Those diagnosed with serious mental illnesses will be registered and receive regular, but random visits from qualified psychiatrists to check their mental condition and assess their recovery, said the regulation.

According to statistics from the China Disease Prevention and Control Center, China had more than 16 million patients with serious mental disorders by 2009. Mental and neurologic diseases consume 20 percent of the nation's expenditure on diseases.

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