HMAA would like to ban smoking in indoor public places to reduce cardiovascular mortality such as due to heart attack and sudden cardiac death caused by passive smoking.

1. No smoking from A to Z
The HMAA’s anti-tobacco
campaign in Hungary
RETURN Meeting
Nov 6, 2010, Budapest
Eszter Bodnár, MD - HMAA Hungary
Chapter President
Tamás Peredy, MD - HMAA Past
President
Sándor Matolcsy, MD – HMAA Past
President
Dávid László Tárnoki, MD
Ádám Domonkos Tárnoki, MD

2. HMAA anti-tobacco
campaign
 HMAA anti-tobacco conference 2008 Budapest
 Delegation to the ministry of health
 First Hungarian indoor air pollution study
 Letter to the prime minister May 2010 – to strengthen
indoor public smoking law
 Annual HMAA Student Conference Balatonfüred –
section dedicated how to prevent and treat smoking
 Teaching secondary school students about the harmful
effects of smoking and secondhand smoking (30-40%
of students 14-18y/o smoke!, 30% exposed to
secondhand smoking)

3. HMAA anti-tobacco conference 2008
Budapest
 300 participants from Hungary and abroad
(USA, Canada)
 Multispecialty Conference ( public health,
cardiology, pulmonology, pediatrics, internal
medicine, psychiatry, primary care,
oncology etc..)
 World-famous lecturers: Cummings KM
(leader of USA anti-tobacco campaign),
Fong G (leader of Canadian campaign)
 Teamwork for changing Hungarian smoking
policies

4. HMAA delegation in the Ministry of Health
HMAA delegation (25 August, 2008):
 Laszlo L. Mechtler, M.D., President of HMAA
 Tamás Peredy, M.D., President – Elect HMAA
 László Csáthy, M.D. HMAA Board Member
 K. Michael Cummings, PhD, MPH, leader of American anti-tobacco
campaign
 Prof. Geoffrey Fong, MD, leader of Canadian anti-tobacco campaign
 Declaration issued by the Minister of Health
 Result: Minister of Health expressed to support to change the law to
protect non-smokers and initiate lecture series in elementary schools and
high schools

5. Ádám and Dávid Tárnoki, MD – First
Hungarian Indoor Air Monitoring Study 2008
 Minimum of 30 minutes spent in each
venue – 40 locations
 PM2.5 levels were more than an order of
magnitude higher in places where smoking
was observed compared to smoke free
venues.
 Smoking was commonly observed in places
where smoking was prohibited.
If smoking were banned indoors, the levels
of indoor air pollution would decline by 90%
resulting in rapid improvement in public
health (heart attacks, respiratory problems
– COPD, cancer)

6. Figure 6
Average PM2.5 Levels Observed in Various Workplace Venues in
Hungary, 2008
155
94
5
0
100
200
Smoking Observed: Not
smoke-free
Smoking Observed:
Smoke-free in separate
sections
No Smoking Observed:
Smoking prohibited
MeanPM2.5(μgrams/m
3
)
15
EPA
maximum
safe
exposure
(15 μg/m3)

7. Publications
 Tárnoki Á, Tárnoki D, Travers M, Hyland A, Dobson K,
Mechtler L, Cummings K. Tobacco smoke is a major
source of indoor air pollution in Hungary’s bars,
restaurants and transportation venues. Clinical and
Experimental Medical Journal 2009;3(1):131-138.
 A.D.Tarnoki, D.L.Tarnoki, M.J.Travers, A.Hyland,
K.Dobson, L.Mechtler, K. M.Cummings: Hungarian
Indoor Air Quality Study. Hung Med J (Orv Hetil),
2010;151(6):213-219

8. Tobacco
 Contains over 4000 toxic materials
including 200 cancer-related agents…

9. Diseases thanks to tobacco

10. Mortality causes

11. Mission
 Assisting in the adoption of the WHO Anti-Tobacco laws
in Hungary
 Decreasing the percent of Hungarian MD’s that smoke –
positive example
 Promoting better health initiatives for all Hungarians
 Increase awareness of the effects of tobacco during
pregnancy and childhood.

12. Media coverage and interest in 2008
 ATV news
 MTV – Az Este
 Duna TV news
 Index.hu news
 Dental
 Haon
 Lanchid radio
 HirTV
 Betegszoba.hu
 Euroastra
 Hazipatika.com website
 Medicalonline
 Ministry of Health
 Hungarian Television
 Tudobeteg.hu respiratory website

13. Thank you for your
attention!
Hungarian Medical Association of America
www.hmaa.org