New Aids laboratory opens in Nigeria

The Nigerian government has opened its first comprehensive HIV/Aids reference laboratory.

The new laboratory, which was donated by the US-based Ford Foundation, will be used as a central point for research and collection of data relating to the Aids epidemic.

Health Minister Alphonsus Nwosu said that in 1986 two cases of Aids had been recorded in Nigeria.

Now, 2.5m people were affected.

He said that tackling the disease was a major battle which must be fought by all, for the sake of future generations.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service