博鳌亚洲论坛全球健康论坛第三届大会儿童青少年心理健康分论坛在京成功举办

博鳌亚洲论坛全球健康论坛第三届大会儿童青少年心理健康分论坛在京成功举办

The 3rd Conference of Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia

On July 16, 2024, the sub-forum "Achieving Universal Health - Children and Adolescents' Mental Health" of the third session of the Boao Forum for Asia Global Health Forum was successfully concluded at the Beijing National Convention Center. This sub-forum was jointly organized by the National Center for Mental Health and Mental Hygiene Prevention and Treatment, Tsinghua University Vanke School of Public Health and Health, and the United Nations Children's Fund Office in China. It brought together experts, scholars, policymakers and practitioners from all over the world to focus on the mental health issues of children and adolescents and the construction of their service systems, and to conduct in-depth discussions.

First, Ms. Ailing Sang, UNICEF Representative in China, delivered an opening speech. In her speech, Ms. Sang emphasized the importance of children and adolescents' mental health and its urgency worldwide. She pointed out that without mental health, there is no real health. She reviewed the important declaration of countries around the world at the Almaty Conference in 1978, reaffirming that mental health is a basic human right, and called on all stakeholders to strengthen cooperation to promote the development of children and adolescents' mental health. Ms. Sang Ailing also introduced UNICEF's related work in China, including pilot projects in many provinces across the country, providing support to hundreds of thousands of children through health systems, primary health care and community mental health projects.

Mr. Yao Hongwen, Party Secretary and Director of the Chinese National Center for Mental Health and Mental Hygiene, then delivered a speech. Yao Hongwen mentioned that the mental health of children and adolescents is an important public health issue of global concern, which is related to the future of the country and the hope of the nation. He introduced the Chinese government's many initiatives to strengthen mental health services, including the "Healthy China Action" and the "Special Action Plan for Comprehensively Strengthening and Improving Student Mental Health Work in the New Era". He called for multi-departmental collaboration to build a "family-school-community-medicine" alliance, further improve the mental health service system, and promote the mental health development of adolescents.

Professor Lu Lin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of Peking University Sixth Hospital, analyzed in detail the challenges of mental illness faced by Chinese teenagers. At present, my country's child and adolescent mental health diagnosis and treatment service system still has problems such as insufficient number of child psychiatry departments and beds, and uneven distribution of mental health resources. He emphasized the importance of strengthening professional talent training. He pointed out that the prevalence of mental illness among children and adolescents aged 6-16 in China is 17.5%, among which the incidence of depression and anxiety is relatively high. Professor Lu Lin called on all sectors of society to work together to create a healthy growth environment for young people, especially in prevention and early intervention.

Dr. Devora Kestel, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse of the World Health Organization, shared WHO's experience in promoting mental health of children and adolescents worldwide. She pointed out that 10-20% of children and adolescents worldwide have mental health problems, but most of them fail to receive necessary services. She introduced WHO's guidelines and implementation experience on improving mental health care, emphasizing the importance of prevention, early intervention and multi-sectoral collaboration.

Mr. Xu Zongyu, deputy director of the Maternal and Child Health Center of the Chinese National Health Commission, introduced the innovative practices of adolescent mental health services in China. He explained in detail the content and effectiveness of the adolescent mental health service package jointly constructed by domestic and foreign experts, and shared future promotion plans. Mr. Xu Zongyu pointed out that the service package has been tested in many middle schools through standardized training and evaluation and has shown remarkable results. As of July this year, it has received applications from more than 300 schools, covering more than 40,000 teenagers.

The roundtable discussion was hosted by Ms. Jiang Wen, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the National Center for Mental Health and Mental Hygiene, and invited guests including Aili Shi, an expert from the UNICEF China Office, Wang Hui, Senior Executive Editor of The Lancet Asia, Shekhar Saxena, Professor of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Yang Fude, Secretary of the Party Committee of Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, and Guan Ruiyuan, Professor of the Department of Medical Psychology of Peking University. They conducted in-depth discussions on key issues in the construction of a mental health service system for children and adolescents, and put forward opinions and suggestions from different perspectives. Mr. Shi Ai-li shared UNICEF's projects and initiatives to promote the construction of a child and adolescent mental health service system in China, emphasizing the importance of multi-sectoral cooperation; Professor Shekhar Saxena emphasized that medical staff, parents and teachers are the key figures who directly affect the health of children and adolescents, introduced the projects and training carried out by WHO for the above groups, emphasized that investment in the mental health of children and adolescents should be strengthened, and attention should be paid to the mental health level of children in difficult situations through various comprehensive social means, while focusing on the use of digital technology with evidence-based medical evidence to promote mental health; Ms. Wang Hui introduced the efforts of The Lancet in promoting global mental health and mental health research and knowledge dissemination, especially the latest progress in the field of child and adolescent mental health. Secretary Yang Fude, from the perspective of professional medical institutions, proposed that psychiatric hospitals are facing a surge in demand for child and adolescent mental health services and insufficient allocation of doctors and professionals. It is necessary to strengthen training and comprehensive intervention, add special clinics and service projects, and promote the mental health of children and adolescents in an all-round way. Professor Guan Ruiyuan focused on the role and challenges of schools in providing mental health services for children and adolescents, and proposed that schools are currently facing difficulties such as insufficient psychological service teachers, and need to strengthen the connection of internal and external resources and the popularization of mental health knowledge to promote the effective implementation of school mental health work.

Through the exchanges and discussions at this forum, the participants have a deeper understanding of the complexity and urgency of children and adolescents' mental health issues. In the summary of the roundtable discussion, Ms. Jiang Wen called on all participants to seize the current historical opportunity and work together to build a comprehensive and professional children and adolescents' mental health service system. She emphasized that in the future, we need to continue to explore innovative practices, promote the optimal allocation and integration of resources, and deepen interdisciplinary research and cooperation to form a joint force to contribute to the development of the children and adolescents' psychological service system and lay a solid foundation for the healthy growth and happy future of the next generation.

historical video：The 2nd Conference of Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia