Faced with a shortage of practicing specialists, the health ministry is planning to beef up mental health services for children as a growing number are in need of treatment for depression, eating disorders or other problems, according to ministry officials.

A ministry study panel urged the move after determining in March that Japan has fewer than 70 doctors specializing in pediatric mental health and some patients are forced to wait years for treatment at specialized care institutions.

Besides these specialists, only around 1,500 pediatricians and psychiatrists are available for mental health-care services for children, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

The ministry is planning to designate at least one hospital in every prefecture as an institution capable of handling the mental care needs of both inpatients and outpatients ranging from infants to adolescents, the officials said.

Designating such hospitals will start in fiscal 2011 after testing the initiative at 10 hospitals starting in fiscal 2008, according to the officials.

Each hospital will open a support center where local pediatricians, psychiatrists and nurses will undergo training. The centers will liaise with schools, child consultation centers, local police and other relevant organizations to share information.

There were only 13 medical institutions as of January that could provide training in childhood mental health care, including the National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo and Shinshu University Hospital in Nagano Prefecture.

Demand for pediatric mental health care is growing in the wake of a rising number of child abuse and truancy cases, as well as an increased number of children traumatized by earthquakes and other disasters, or serious crime cases.

Japan is considered generally lagging other industrialized countries in the provision of mental health care for children. The ministry's plan represents the first major step to beef up such services.