Real-life images of a man dying from lung cancer are being used in a hard-hitting anti-smoking campaign launched in France.

The health warning, which screened on television for the first time Monday, depicts an emaciated 49-year-old man sitting on his bed, five days before his death in 1999.

The dying man, Richard Gourlain, was filmed by his wife.

We wanted to show the truth

Gerard Dubois

He was keen that the footage was used to discourage others from smoking.

The images are accompanied by a voice which says: "This is just a smoker, who started at 14, when you think you're immortal. He could never stop."

Images of the man's life appear on his bedroom wall throughout the film, which ends with a warning: "Starting at 14 is fatal."

The film was produced by the National Anti-Smoking Committee in France.

Committee president Gerard Dubois said: "You can say it's sensational, it's too tough - but we wanted to show the truth.

"These images correspond to reality."

Telling the truth

Mr Dubois said the campaign was devised after the success of reality-based anti-smoking campaigns in other countries.

He said. "The tobacco industry lies to promote its products - all we have to do to destroy them is tell the truth."

The decision to make the film was applauded by the UK anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health.

Director Clive Bates said he was aware that some might consider the film manipulative and over-the-top.

But he said: "The truth about smoking is that it is all about withering away and dying in agony.

"This is a good reality check to the wall of positive public relations that surrounds smoking."

Alternative tactic

Another anti-smoking campaign screened on television and printed in newspapers in France last month alarmed many smokers.

The warning said a commonly consumed product had been found to contain toxic substances. It invited people to phone a toll-free number for information.

Half-a-million people called, and were told that the product was the cigarette.

The National Health Institute for Prevention and Education, which dreamed up the campaign, said it was a big success.

Smokers in France bought 83 billion cigarettes last year, about 1% more than in 2000, according to the Center for Documentation and Information about Tobacco, an association of tobacco companies and tobacconists.

Around 60,000 people die in France each year of smoking-related illnesses.