TEHRAN, Aug 12 (AFP) - Iran's health ministry is to start distributing free syringes to drug addicts in Tehran to fight the spread of AIDS and other contagious diseases, a ministry official said Tuesday.

"Syringes will be distributed by mobile teams in certain places in Tehran in exchange for used ones," Mohsen Vazirian told the Iran Labour News Agency.

Iran has more than two million drug addicts, of whom nearly 140,000 use syringes, according to official estimates.

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