LAGOS, Nigeria, April 30 (UPI) -- Nigeria's health minister says AIDS has killed 2.3 million in his country while another 3.8 million are HIV positive, the BBC reported Friday.
Eyitayo Lambo said Nigeria has one of the world's highest numbers of people living with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Only South Africa and India have more people infected with HIV.
The BBC report said the rate of AIDS infection is much lower in West Africa than in southern Africa, where 30 percent of the population of some countries is HIV positive.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with some 130 million people, has been criticized for not doing enough to fight AIDS, the report said.
"HIV/AIDS has now become the most nagging health problem affecting individuals, families and communities," Lambo said.
But the government is now undertaking extensive AIDS awareness campaigns.
