Tehran - Iran primarily invests in education to combat AIDS, Iranian Health Minister Kamran Baqeri-Lankrani said Monday on the occasion of World AIDS day.

Iran puts priority on public education by cultural and religious figures to fight the disease, the minister said in a speech carried by ISNA news agency.

Baqeri-Lankrani said parents were being educated to pass on all necessary information on AIDS to their children.

According to the health ministry, slightly more than 18,000 Iranians are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Of these, 6,000 contracted the infection through sexual relations, the rest from contaminated needles used by drug addicts.

Limited sexual freedom and a traditional social system are seen as having helped keep the level of AIDS infection relatively low in Iran, which has a population of 70 million.

The minister said Iranians infected with HIV would get free access to relevant medication, including antiretrovirals, one the main drugs for HIV treatment.

Nationwide, 110 AIDS centres have been established, including four for women only, while three million information pamphlets are published each year. (dpa)