The challenges to public health in Hungary in the twenty-first century

The creation of a new school of public health in Hungary offersan opportunity to reassess existing approaches to postgraduatetraining in public health. This paper describes the philosophybehind the training programme that will be offered by the school.It seeks to equip this new generation with the skills to assessthe health needs of the Hungarian population and to design andimplement effective policies to meet these needs. The task ofthe school will not be easy. It will have to confront strongvested interests. This is illustrated in the paper by a discussionof the activities of the tobacco industry. Finally, they mustbe able to base their activities on up-to-date, research-basedevidence. The wide diversity of skills that will be needed toaddress the health needs of the Hungarian population justifiesthis new, multidisciplinary approach in which alliances willbe forged with all agencies that have the power to contributeto improving health.