The UN estimates up to half a million people in Myanmar have HIV and that more than two percent of pregnant women are infected, while independent experts working in Yangon say the incidence could be twice as high.

"The food gives these poor families a better chance for survival, and serves to prevent the practices that trigger infection, like migrant or sex work," WFP country director Bhim Udas said in a statement Friday.

The initial programme will target about 400 families in central Myanmar, which the WFP said had been struck hard by the virus due to the region's role as a transport hub for truck drivers, a group the UN considers to be a leading factor in the spread of the disease through contact with sex workers.

Each family will be given a monthly ration of 65 kilogrammes (143 pounds) of rice to be distributed by the Myanmar Nurses Association.

"This one-year pilot programme is a first step in our efforts to ease the suffering of people in Myanmar living with the disease and help to slow its spread," Udas said.

A similar WFP programme was launched in Cambodia last year involving about 4,000 affected households.

Thailand has been working closely with Myanmar on HIV/AIDS issues since last September when it pledged one million condoms and much-needed HIV/AIDS medicine to help its neighbour combat the deadly epidemic.

TERRA.WIRE