Ukraine's Ministry of Health has supported bill No. 2820 on amendments to some laws of Ukraine on the protection of public health from the harmful effects of tobacco, developed by a group of deputies headed by the chairman of the parliamentary committee on health Olha Bohomolets.

The ministry said that the bill was supported by the representative of the Bureau of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Ukraine, the representative of the World Bank, the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP), and representatives of domestic non-governmental organizations which fight against smoking.

According to the director of the public health department at the Ministry of Health, Svitlana Ostashko, bill No. 2810 will implement the EU directive on the implementation of the program "Health 2010" in Ukraine.

"Nicotine is one of the main causes of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, it occupies a significant place in the structure of morbidity and mortality of citizens, especially among the youth. Ministry specialists have developed a number of regulations, guidelines for health professionals, aimed at overcoming this harmful habit from the level of primary health care," Ostashko said.