KIEV, Oct. 7 – Nearly two million Ukrainians have quit smoking over last six years, former Health Minister Mykola Polischuk reported.

"We've seen a reduction of the death rate in Ukraine. This is due to Ukrainians starting to pay more attention to a healthy way of life, in particular, starting to smoke less. Approximately 1.7 to 2 million of people have quit smoking over the last six years," he said at a press conference in Kiev.

As Polischuk said, according to the statistics, the number of deaths of Ukrainians because of the diseases related to smoking has dropped.

For example, about 28,000 people died from atherosclerosis in 2005 and in 2012 – about 19,000, while from chronic diseases of respiratory tracts killed 19,000 people in 2005 and 10,000 people in 2012.