Országos Epidemiológiai Központ - EPIET

Contact person:

Director - General: Dr. Márta Melles Deputy Director-General

Tel. + 36 1 476 11 94

Fax. + 36 1 476 12 26

Description of the institute

The National Center for Epidemiology, Budapest, Hungary is a governmental institution The geographic focus is the national level, as well as subnational level. The Hungarian name is Országos Epidemiológiai Központ or just OEK.

Mission

The mission of the OEK is to protect population health by numerous tasks, including research activities, training and practical activity in the field of communicable disease epidemiology, and to provide valid data on health for decision-makers, health professionals and the public.

The Center was established on 1 January 1998 and has approximately 250 employees including nearly 135 graduates. Divisions and departments of the Center are headquarters in the field of epidemiology of infectious diseases. Although an independent body, the OEK is attached to the organizational structure of the National Public Health and Medical Officer Service.

The main tasks and present activities of the Center are:

• Communicable disease epidemiology 
• Surveillance and control of communicable disease
• Organization and coordination of epidemiological and laboratory surveillance programmes
• Organization of the nation-wide collection of epidemiological data, and laboratory samples
• Participation in EU networks of epidemiological surveillance and of reference laboratories
• Elaboration and implementation of the regional and national strategies in communicable disease prevention and control
• Elaboration of recommendations and guidelines for public health intervention
• Advice and technical support to district Public Health Authorities

Research activities

• HIV/AIDS in Hungary
• Surveillance of Nosocomial Infection
• Antibiotic resistance- genetical background
• Drug resistance - prevention, prudent use
• Vaccine preventable diseases
• Monitoring of health status of Hungarian population
• Chronic viral infection
• Training in communicable disease epidemiology and microbiology

Training opportunities

The training opportunities include participation in surveillance programs, in data analysis of national reported data on communicable diseases and on laboratory results. The fellow will have opportunity to spend necessary time in laboratories and gain basic knowledge on sample processing and microbiological diagnostic methods, teaching, and publishing articles. Trainees will have opportunity to participate in a wide range of outbreak investigations. Field work is expected to be done in cooperation with colleagues in public health centres. All necessary support including computer equipment, communication and library facilities are available.

Training supervision

For the EPIET fellow there will be a work plan, which advancement will be supported by the head of the center, they will regularly discuss the next challenges. He will be based in the department that he had chosen in his project (Hospital Epidemiology, Epidemiology, Epidemiological Program Office), but he will be able to work in other units too. A practiced medical epidemiologist will directly supervise the fellow, and he will be able to ask for help from any experts of the institute if necessary. He will be able to participate in trainings, useful programs, conferences organized in the institute and in other places in the country.

Language requirements

English language will be required. Hungarian language is necessary for the trainee to operate effectively on the field.

Training history

Number of EPIET EU-track fellows trained at institute: 1 (2006)

Number of alumni at institute: One