On this page

1. Policy framework

2. Stakeholders

3. Guidance to stakeholders

4. Target groups

5. Funding

Policy framework

Smoking

With the help of the Act CXXXIV of 2012. on the suppression of underage smoking and on the retail trade of tobacco products (2012. évi CXXXIV. törvény), the government radically altered the structure of the tobacco market in Hungary by reallocating concessions of tobacco selling rights and introducing strict regulations on young people's access to tobacco.

Tobacco Control in Hungary Programme

The since defunct Ministry of Human Capacities launched a programme called Tobacco Control in Hungary (Dohányzás Visszaszorítása Magyarországon) which is a comprehensive prevention programme for preschool and school-aged children. Their organisation is the Hungarian Focal Point for Tobacco Control (Dohányzás Fókuszpont). The Department of Public Health in the Ministry of Interior (Belügyminisztérium) is responsible for its operation. The aims of the organisation includes:

'Implementing smoking prevention activities targeting youth and working out prevention programmes, collecting best practices, preparing cadastres and advising programmes for education institutions. Developing methodologies of national dissemination and participating in the implementation of these.'

They have developed several programmes to make school-age youth aware of the importance of a healthy, smoke-free lifestyle. These include a gaming software, portable touchscreen computers (PTSC) and a homepage called 'Smoking is sticky' ('Ciki a cigi'), which contains information about the harmful effects of smoking. They also provide a smoking prevention guide, a training programme and an interactive tool pack that can be used free of charge in formal education in grades 3-5 and 6-10.

Smoking prevention programmes

According to ministry information, in order to reduce smoking among young people, the Ministry of the Interior (Belügyminisztérium) operates and distributes complex prevention programmes at the national level (in kindergartens and schools) and supports the institutional smoking cessation system to further reduce the proportion of young people who smoke and are exposed to passive smoking. The National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology (Országos Korányi Pulmonológiai Intézet) coordinated the smoking prevention programmes in 2022, with the professional assistance of the Hungarian Focal Point for Tobacco Control. 

In 2021, the Institute launched a campaign to encourage the Hungarian population, including young people, to quit smoking. The 'Live with clean lungs' ('Élj tiszta tüdővel') campaign aimed mainly at the urban, health-conscious young and middle-aged adult smoking population. In the campaign, they introduced life situations that can be familiar to those who smoke regularly and they launched a website to provide information and support. The website still operates and in 2024, they shared a new guideline on the effects of e-cigarettes.

Programmes in kindergartens and schools

According to the information provided by the Ministry of Interior in 2024, they continued the implementation and extension of complex (preschool and school) smoking prevention programmes. They also continued to support the prevention institutional system to further decrease the proportion of young people who smoke or are exposed to passive smoking. The preschool and school prevention tools are part of a comprehensive, interactive smoking prevention programme. They provided

• portable touchscreen computers,
• puppets demonstrating the harmful effects of smoking and
• educational tools for kindergartens – kindergarten program boxes.

In 2024, they involved more educational institutions in the programme through newsletters and updates to the websites related to the prevention programme of the Hungarian Focal Point for Tobacco Control.

To monitor the situation on tobacco and other nicotine-containing products' consumption, the ministry launched a nationwide, large-scale study called 'National Youth Smoking Survey 2024' at the end of 2024. The research was initiated and professionally guided by the  Hungarian Focal Point for Tobacco Control and carried out by the National Centre for Public Health. The results will be processed in the first half of 2025. The findings will provide an important base for public health and health policy strategic planning and decision-making.

Use of drugs

The distribution of designer drugs through dealers and efficient online channels could be considered a more serious problem, for which there is little empirical research on young people and the general population. Their popularity is due to their relatively low prices and easy access. In socially marginalised communities (among marginalised urban youth and young people in underprivileged rural communities), there is also a growing trend towards the use of home-made drugs.

Research among young people indicates an increase in the intensity of lifetime or monthly cannabis use. According to the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children 2018 survey, 15% of boys have tried cannabis once in their life (it was 12% in 2014), and 8% of them tried it in the last 30 days (it was 5% in 2014). In the 2022 survey results, 16.9% of the school-aged young people in the 9-11^th grade reported that they tried cannabis.

Drug prevention in the Catching-up Settlements programme

The overall aim of the Catching-up Settlements programme (Felzárkózó települések program) is the social inclusion of disadvantaged settlements and people living there, with a focus on children and youth.

The programme has a comprehensive sub-programme on crime prevention, including drug prevention. They organize a complex drug prevention programme in schools where they provide information to disadvantaged children on addictions, drugs, and alcohol and provide practices for healthy lifestyle and stress management. The programmes are implemented in the form of small working groups and not in frontal training.

In the frame of the programme, 10-12 addiction counsellors and 51 social workers were trained with the aim of teaching participants the basic concepts of addictions in an interactive way. (For general information on the programme, see 4.3 Strategy for the social inclusion of young people.)

Use of alcohol

The Act CLV of 1997 on customer protection (Fogyasztóvédelemről szóló 1997. évi CLV. törvény) states that it is forbidden to sell or serve alcoholic beverages to persons under 18 years of age, except for medicines prescribed by a doctor.

Prevention programme of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta

Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta in Hungary launched a programme in 2018, called 'Dad Mom Alcohol' ('Apa Anya Pia') that calls attention to children and young people aged between 8 and 20 living with parents who are addicted. The aim of the programme is to support the mental health of these children and to prevent them from becoming addicted themselves as an adult. In the programme, they have different activities, such as

• publishing books for children, parents, professionals,
• creating and continuously updating a dedicated website,
• creating podcasts, videos,
• organising a yearly conference,
• providing trainings for social workers.

It is still a pilot programme and the National Cultural Fund (Nemzeti Kulturális Alap) supported their development with an amount of HUF 15 million (about EUR 38 461).

According to Ministry information, the plan is to expand to programme through the Health Promotion Offices (Egészségfejlesztési Irodák). The workers of these Offices can acquire the training of the programme and can provide information to families and to local communities to directly support these children. (For more information on Health Promotion Offices, see 7.2 Administration and Governance)

Preventing addiction in child protection institutions

According to ministry information in 2022, the responsible ministry launched a pilot project in 2021 in cooperation with the National Association of Addiction Consultants (Addiktológiai Konzultánsok Országos Egyesülete). The aim was to support professional workers in child protection institutions to handle the addiction problems of children and to raise health awareness. Developing emotional intelligence, social skills and coping strategies were also important in the project. The pilot project ended in 2022, but the government provided a budget of HUF 40 million (about EUR 100 000) in 2023 to continue implementing the programme.

Stakeholders

Education institutions and child protection

The links between public education institutions and the system of child protection are set out in the Act CXC of 2011 on National Public Education (2011. évi CXC. törvény a nemzeti köznevelésről) and in a government regulation.

The prevention and elimination of vulnerabilities is the responsibility of every teacher in the educational institution. Ensuring this activity is primarily the responsibility of the head of the institution, for which there is a law that allows the institution to hire a child and youth protection officer to support the school's educators in child and youth protection work. The job descriptions of the child and youth protection advocates, the rules of procedure for the tasks to be carried out and the activities of prevention, disadvantaged children and children at risk are also regulated in this resolution.

Definitions of vulnerability

Vulnerability, defined in the Act CLIV of 1997 on Health (1997. évi CLIV. törvény az egészségügyről), includes only the threat to the optimal maintenance of the state of health. It does not contain any indications of causes, situations, risk factors or their severity. Since the law does not specify the cases of cooperation and reporting obligations, medical confidentiality is often used by professionals who are otherwise subject to the reporting obligation.

The Act C of 2012 on the Criminal Code (2012. évi C. törvény a Büntető Törvénykönyvről) contains the definition of juvenile risk for the police and the related measures. The act states that the purpose of the punishment or measure applied to juveniles is to ensure that the juvenile develops in the right direction and becomes a useful member of society, considering the education and protection of the juvenile when choosing the measure or punishment.

The Tobacco Control in Hungary Programme

The main coordinator of the Programme is the Hungarian Focal Point for Tobacco Control (Dohányzás Fókuszpont) and they are in cooperation with the local offices of the Government Agencies and the Health Promotion Offices (Egészségfejlesztési Irodák).

Guidance to stakeholders

The legislative framework for the implementation of school-based prevention programmes is defined by a government regulation. According to the regulation, the aim of health promotion is to ensure, that every child has a full-time health promotion activity that is effective in the everyday life of the educational institution, which effectively develops well-being and health.

The decree also defines behavioural addictions and the prevention of the use of addictive substances as defined tasks so that drug prevention activities can be carried out as an integral part of school health promotion. The provisions of the regulation on the development of physical and mental health, behavioural addictions and the prevention of the use of addictive substances came into force on 1 September 2013.

The Hungarian Police

The Hungarian Police (Magyar Rendőrség) has several local and national drug prevention programmes. Members of the organisation regularly give:

• drug-prevention lectures from primary school to universities,
• advertise drawing competitions,
• host thematic forums nationwide.

The following child and youth protection programmes are available to schools, organised by the Hungarian Police:

• 'DADA' (in Hungarian it refers to smoking, alcohol, drugs and AIDS): it is a skill - and ability-development programme that fosters proper self-assessment and builds self-esteem. Its aim is to help children always recognise dangerous situations, distinguish between positive and negative influences, resist temptations and offers even from their peers, resolve conflicts without feeling like a loser, and understand the consequences of their decisions and actions.
• 'ELLEN-SZER' (in Hungarian it means antidote): this programme aims to enhance the safety of high school students against the most severe forms of deviance, such as encouraging students not to tolerate becoming victims, to seek help, and to apply the techniques learned during the programme to prevent victimization.
• 'School Crime Prevention Advisory Network' ('Iskolai Bűnmegelőzési Tanácsadói hálózat', IBT): it is a programmeme for high school students that raise awareness of the dangers of the Internet, domestic violence, and drug-related crimes, both from the perspective of perpetrators and victims.
• 'School Police Officer' programme ('Az iskola rendőre program'): aims to help identify and eliminate other factors that endanger children's safety.
   

In 2013, the main directions of the drug prevention activity within the organizational framework of the Hungarian Defence Forces were set out in:

• the Parliament Decision no. 106/2009. (XII.21.) on the national strategic programme for the management of the drug problem (106/2009. (XII. 21.) OGY határozat a kábítószer-probléma kezelése érdekében készített nemzeti stratégiai programról), adopted the
• 'National Strategy for Solving the Drugs Problem' ('Nemzeti stratégia a kábítószer-probléma visszaszorítására'),
• the Drug Prevention Commettee of the Hungarian Defence Forces (a Magyar Honvédség Drogprevenciós Bizottsága).

Hungarian National Focal Point

The Hungarian National Focal Point (NFP) is the national agency of the European Drug Information Network. The NFP develops the national drug information system which has to be able to supply objective and reliable data to the professional and political decisions, arrangements and programmes according to the international standards. Their activity includes data collection on prevention activities in Hungary, and also on 'selective prevention', which means specific sub-populations who are at higher risk than the average, such as young offenders, school drop-outs or students who have learning difficulties.

Drug Coordination Forums

The Hungarian National Focal Point the Drug Coordination Forums [Kábítószerügyi Egyeztető Fórumok (KEF)] play an important role in the implementation of drug policy and consist of local-level professional consultation work groups that were created by local authorities and local professional collaborations. The members of the Drug Coordination Forums are representatives of state, municipal, NGO and church organizations that are active in the management of the drug problem.

The forums aimed to tackle the drug problem locally and participate in drug prevention activities, such as interactive educational programmes, and theatre performances for young people on drug prevention.

Currently, 135 KEF are operating in Hungary, with capital, town, district, small region, county or regional competence. The members of the Drug Coordination Forums are representatives of state, municipal, NGO and church organizations that are active in managing of the drug problem.

Church-based and civil spheres

Many actors in the church-based and civil spheres focus on young people with drugs, alcohol or other mental illnesses. The church-based maintained RÉV Addicts Assistant Service (RÉV Szenvedélybeteg-segítő Szolgálat) helps those affected to free themselves from addiction and their relatives and environment to support the addict in recovery. Alcohol, drug, gambling, drug addiction, eating disorders and similar struggles and problems are treated by qualified social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, chaplains or patients who have already recovered.

The Blue Point Drug Counselling Centre and Drug Therapy Foundation (Kék Pont Drogkonzultációs Központ és Drogambulancia Alapítvány) has been a public benefit organization since 1997. The aim is to prevent, treat and reduce the problems caused by addiction for individuals, families and society. It currently operates two outpatient clinics in Budapest. In these two areas, the teams usually consist of social workers, addiction counsellors, doctors, psychologists, sociologists, lawyers, communication specialists, and volunteers.

Target groups

Vulnerable groups in connection with institutions: early school leavers and school children, children in childcare institutions and juvenile offenders, as well as vulnerable groups in communities such as vulnerable families, homeless youth, young people in deprived neighbourhoods and minorities, especially Roma youth.

Funding

Food-related illnesses are treated as priorities in the budget. The objective of the Act CIII of 2011 on Public Health Product Tax (a népegészségügyi termékadóról szóló 2011. évi CIII. törvény) is to impose special taxes on food products with high sugar, salt and certain methyl-xanthine (such as caffeine) content. The aim of the measure is to promote healthy nutrition, to encourage food industry to produce products with more favourable composition, and to improve healthcare services and public health programmes. The collected tax provides funding for the National Health Insurance Fund (Nemzeti Egészségbiztosítási Alapkezelő, NEAK).