Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1975 (3. évfolyam, 6-8. szám)
1975 / 6. szám
substitute for contraception. With the introduction of the oral and the IUD, reliable, convenient means of family planning are now available. Already their use has resulted in a decline in the abortion rate. To insure a continued increase in practice of contraception, education of the population in family planning is necessary. The October 1973 Decision adopted by the Council of Ministers includes a unique plan to insure widespread knowledge of family planning and contraception as well as health, sex, and family life education throughout the country. As of January 1974, persons under age 35 cannot be married without presentation of a certificate verifying that they have had a consultation with a physician in which they were educated in the principles of family planning, chose a suitable method of contraception, and were taught its proper use. In addition, the present system of compulsory consultations and examinations for pregnant women will be expanded to include all interested women. The consultation network will be developed as part of the current medical network for the provision of maternal and infant protection and care. Facilities for these purposes are to be established at all levels—town, county, district, and regional—and medical specialists will be available in factories. The district health service will fulfill these functions for persons living in villages and on agricultural communes. In areas where no consultation services are presently available, district and factory physicians are required to give examinations, contraceptives, and advice on family planning to all who request these services as well as to persons planning to marry. Courses in health, sex education, family life education, family planning, and contraception, on a level with and corresponding to the age of the students, will begin shortly in primary and secondary schools, universities, military schools, and as part of the training of regular soldiers. The 1973 Decision calls for the immediate preparation and publication of curriculums on these subjects and, immediately thereafter, the training of teachers, physicians, health workers, and nurses. Actual instruction in the schools is expected to begin in September 1974 in the grades for which curriculums have been written. Physicians and skilled health workers will be used as instructors until teachers have completed their inservice training. For persons no longer in school, single lectures and lecture series will be offered. The 1973 Decision also states that all medical schools and institutes for postgraduate training in medicine should begin to give theoretical and practical training in family planning and contraception if they are not already doing so. Demographic and Social Research The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO), founded in 1867, is an organization with nationwide official duties under the direct supervision of the government. It conducts the statistical activities of the state. There is no independent census bureau in Hungary; instead, a Population Census Section of the Population Statistics Department of HCSO prepares, organizes, and performs the population censuses carried out every ten years and the microcensuses conducted every two to three years. Other censuses concerning industry, agriculture, and so on are conducted by the corresponding departments of HCSO. The Demographic Research Institute is organized under HCSO but has an independent budget. With respect to scientific direction, its supervisor is the president of HCSO in conjunction with the Demographic Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The Demographic Research Institute evolved out of the Demographic Research Group in 1968. The Statistical Office and its Demographic Research Institute have conducted a broad range of studies in five main areas of demography and social sciences since 1958. In the area of fertility and contraception, the first TCS study of fertility, family planning, and birth control was conducted in 1958-1960; a follow-up study in 1965-1966 permitted longitudinal data analysis; and other TCS studies are planned for 1974. Abortion rates, marriage rates, and the^ social and demographic impact of child-care allowances are other topics to be researched in this area. The second broad area of investigation is the socioeconomic and occupational structure and mobility of the population. Analyses of the labor force, based on census data and labor statistics, and analyses of social and occupational mobility have been conducted to date. The third broad area of investigation has been a study of the aged, based on censuses and special surveys. The fourth area, economic demography, has included population projections for 15, 20, and 25 years, development of a method for regional population projections and elaboration of variants necessary for it, and surveys concerning the age structure of the economic population. Finally, in biodemography, studies of the health of different sectors of the population such as apprentices or persons seeking admission to universities have been conducted. Ongoing studies include a study of premature infants, initiated in 1970, and a follow-up anthropological study of infants from birth, begun in 1971. Major Publications Foremost among Hungary’s technical reviews in the field of population is Demográfia, a demographic journal published by the Demographic Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. Other journals dealing with different aspects of family planning, birth control, and contraception include Statisztikai Szemle (Statistical Review), Orvosi Hetilap (Medical Weekly), Magyar Nőorvosok Lapja (Journal of Hungarian Gynaecologists), Népegészségügy (Public Health), and Egésziségtudomány (Health Science). References and Selected Readings Acsádi, György, András Klinger, and Egon Szabady. 1962. Survey Techniques in Fertility and Family Planning Research: Experience in Hungary. Publications of the Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, Budapest, p. 153. 14
