In Hungary, there were major improvements in the field of tobacco control in the last couple of years.  The health impact will be measurable after some time.  

Internationally, Hungary is still in a leading position of morbidity and mortality associated with smoking and in the disease burden deriving from smoking in the state budget.Based on the alarming data and on our personal experiences, as well, it is clear that there is much work to be done in this field, with joint efforts of the political decision makers, experts, the civil society and with the active support of the population. 

In view of the above, main responsibilities of the Focal Point for Tobacco Control are as follows:

• Performing comprehensive monitoring and evaluation tasks. Supervising the collection of social, economic and health indicators related to tobacco consumption; conducting research, fulfilling organising duties and coordination.
• Performing activities of strategic planning and negotiation regarding tobacco control in many sectors.
• 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.  
• Implementing pilot programmes and assessment of the effectiveness of these.
• Implementing national and international programmes, cooperation with foreign, national, regional and local partners active in the field of tobacco control, using international experiences in the design of national programmes.
• Following up the activities of civil organisations, cooperation and joint programme design with them.
• Creating and maintaining a database of laws, provisions and of instructions for their use.
• Participating in the preparation, implementation and evaluation process regarding the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and in the national implementation of it.