The Hungarian National Public Health and Medical Officer Service (ÁNTSZ) is a national institution financed by state budget and it is responsible for controlling, coordinating and supervising activities concerning public health (especially environmental, settlement, food hygiene and nutrition, child and youth health, radiobiology and radiohygiene and chemical safety), epidemiology, health promotion (health protection, health education and health maintenance), health service administration, and it also controls the health service. The head of the service is the Chief Medical Officer of Hungary who completes his task under the direct control of the Minister of Health.
The central organization of the three-tiered Service is the Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO). The national institutions (see last page) fulfilling professional and methodological tasks are also controled by the OCMO. Subregional institutions are on the first level of the organizational structure, regional institutions are on the second level.

The tasks of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer

   1. In order to reach the objectives concerning public health stated in Act XI of 1991 regarding the Health authority and health service administration activity, the Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO) fulfills the tasks of the Service in the fields of health and medical treatment concerning public health (environmental, settlement, food and nutrition, radiation protection and radiobiology, toxicology), epidemiology (epidemiology of communicable and non-communicable diseases), health promotion (health education, health protection), administration and coordination of healthcare.
   2. The Office fulfills authority and special authority tasks and professional inspectional tasks in the cases stated by the law.
   3. The Office directs, organizes, supervises and rates the activ-ity of the organs of the Service.
   4. The Office manages the activities of the Service concerning human resources and policies, coordinates and ensures the ed-ucation of the staff working for the Service.
   5. The Office manages and coordinates the business activities conducting of budget organizations of the service, which have partly independent economical authorities, and in addition it fulfills medium-level management tasks set by the Minister of Health.
   6. The Office provides – in cases belonging to its scope of activities – quality assurance for the activities of the Service.
   7. The Office takes part in the development and execution of health protection and prevention programs.
   8. The Office – when requested – participates in the preparation, evaluation of legislation and proposes modifications concerning its scope of duties.
   9. When requested, it participates in the completing of tasks arisen from the EU’s legal harmonization. It also participates in the fulfilling of the duties of the European Integration.
   10. The Office develops and operates the reporting, registration and informing methods in connection with its scope of duties.
   11. The Office monitors and evaluates the state of public health and epidemiology, the changes in the health of the population, and the environmental, social, lifestyle, etc. factors, which can influence the human health. In addition it investigates the research tasks in connection with the mentioned matters, launches and leads epidemic and effect investigations and risk analysis.
   12. The Office establishes and upholds international contacts in

Duties and responsibilities of the regional institution

Under the direct control and supervision of the chief medical officer and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, it completes the tasks defined by the Memorandum and established by law. These are the following:
a) public health (environmental safety, hygiene of settlements, food and nutrition hygiene, radiohygiene and radiobiology, chemical safety)
b) epidemiology (epidemiology of communicable and non-communicable diseases)
c) health promotion (health education, health protection, health promotion)
d) management and coordination in the fields of health and medicinal treatment
e) it controls not just the primary healthcare, but all the healthcare service providers as well
f) it coordinates and controls the health care audit and inspection above the primary healthcare services.
According to the law, it exercises first and second instance jurisdiction. It controls and supervises the activities of subregional institutions and it provides them with professional help. The institution also assures the proper conditions of functioning for subregional institutions. It contributes with its opinions and remarks to the development and modification of laws applying to the sector. It is a budgetary body which acts partly separated and has limited rights.

Duties of the subregional institutions

According to different laws, these are the following:
a) public health (environmental safety, hygiene of settlements, food and nutrition hygiene, radiohygiene and radiobiology, chemical safety)
b) epidemiology
c) health promotion (health education, health protection, health promotion)
d) management and coordination of health service administration
e) they control primary healthcare
They exercise first instance jurisdiction on their area of competency in the course of completing their official tasks.

   ÁNTSZ (National Public Health and Medical Officer Service) Chief Medical Officers (1991-2010):
      Dr. Pál Kertai
      Dr. Vilma Várfalvi
      Prof. Dr. Endre Morava
      Dr. Ilona Molnár
      Dr. Alán Pintér
      Dr. Katalin Lun
      Prof. Dr. György Ungváry
      Dr. László Bujdosó
      Dr. Kornélia Molnár
      Dr. Ferenc Falus
      Dr. Judit Paller