Chinanews, Shanghai, October 30 – Nowadays, Chinese spend more money on the treatment of mental disease than on cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases and cancers, making it the No.1 burden.Currently there are 16 million Chinese suffering from severe mental diseases, and 30 million adolescents afflicted by emotional disorders. Only 20% of them have received proper treatment. Statistics show that there are about 6 million schizophrenia patients in China at present, and the number is increasing by 100,000 every year.Shanghai has started a program to offer professional training to nurses and doctors on how to look after mental patients. By the end of this year, such courses will be available in 52 cities. In 2008, the program will extend to 102 cities, and the family members of mental patients and even patients themselves will be included.The program will also help to build a complete network that will enable nurses to contact patients directly. With the network, nurses will be able to understand their patients better, thus to offer them continuous and more effective treatment.