BEIJING — China’s legislature Friday passed a long-awaited mental-health law that aims to prevent people from being involuntarily held and unnecessarily treated in psychiatric facilities - abuses that have been used against government critics and triggered public anger.
The law standardizes mental-health-care services, requiring general hospitals to set up special outpatient clinics or provide counseling, and calls for the training of more doctors. Debated for years, the law attempts to address an imbalance in Chinese society.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 10/27/2012