Tobacco control in practice: Article 8: Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke - the story of Hungary

2014

Hungary has been party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control since 2005. In recent years, the Government of Hungary has adopted and implemented a series of strong tobacco-control measures. The most important of these are the smoking ban in indoor public places and some outdoor public places, the significant tax increase on cigarettes, the inclusion of combined warnings (text and pictures) on cigarette packages, and the drastic reduction in the number of stores selling tobacco products. This case study focuses on the most important of these measures, namely, the smoking ban, which has resulted in decreases in the rates of smokers among the population and the rate of cigarette smoking; in addition, it has had a positive impact on employment in the hospitality industry and hospitality venues, and on the incomes of the hospitality industry and accommodation services.