Abuja, Nov 15 (IANS): Nigeria records at least 15,000 deaths related to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) every year despite efforts by the government to curb the spread of the deadly disease in the most populous African country, a local official said.

Temitope Ilori, head of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), told reporters on Thursday during an advocacy and sensitisation event in Abeokuta, the capital of the southwestern state of Ogun, that more than 22,000 new cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which attacks the body's immune system at the early stage of AIDS, have been reported so far this year, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Approximately 140,000 children between the ages of 0 to 14 are living with HIV," Ilori said referring to the surge in the prevalence rate in the country.

The official said that Nigeria continues to face a significant challenge in preventing mother-to-child transmission of the disease, lamenting lapses in the national response to the widespread occurrence of the infectious disease.

In 2023 alone, Nigeria recorded 75,000 new HIV infections and 45,000 HIV/AIDS-related deaths, she added, citing official data.