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Health minister asking politicians to refrain from commenting. Yaroslav Debelyi Ukrainian Health Minister Vasyl Kniazevych has asked politicians, including those with a medical education, to refrain from making any comments and recommendations on the epidemic of the A(H1N1) influenza.

"Political rhetoric about medical issues is obliging journalists to ask the Health Ministry to make comments. This, in turn, wastes valuable time to refute absurd statements and explain highly technical medical issues," he said in a statement to politicians made available to Interfax-Ukraine.

Kniazevych called on politicians to busy themselves with their own affairs.

"Don't waste the valuable time of doctors. They're saving the lives of their compatriots," he said.