PARIS (Reuters) - President Jacques Chirac, himself a former chain-smoker, launched a high-profile anti-smoking campaign on Monday that will mean French smokers end up paying more for their pungent Gauloises.

Turning to his domestic agenda after months of diplomatic wrangling trying to prevent war in Iraq (news - web sites), Chirac declared a "war on smoking" as the main thrust of a fight against cancer, to which he pledged to devote half a billion euros over five years. "The fight against smoking is a must, an absolute priority," Chirac said in a speech to health professionals and politicians. "This isn't about undermining individual liberties, but about doing everything to change attitudes and save lives." Allowed in many offices until recently, smoking is a part of everyday life in France. Lighting up after dinner or over a drink is common, and smokers can sometimes be seen sneaking a quick, illegal puff while waiting for the Paris Metro. Chirac, who has made fighting cancer a major theme of his five-year term, said one in three Frenchmen smoke and one in four women. Among young people, he put the rate at 50 percent. France would continue to raise cigarette prices after a tax rise added about 15 percent to the cost in January, Chirac said. In the broader fight against cancer, research would be boosted, access to treatment improved and more preventative measures taken. Screening for breast cancer (news - web sites) would be made available to all women in France by the end of the year. With 150,000 deaths a year, cancer is France's biggest killer of people under 65 years of age. Some 30,000 people die each year from cancers caused by smoking, Chirac said. "Over the last 10 years, (cancer) has claimed as many victims as the most devastating conflict of our history, as many victims as the First World War, or one and a half million people," he said.

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