Nutritious food aid can improve the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. It can help ward off illness, making it possible to continue to earn income and keep food on the table. WFP food assistance provides support to HIV/AIDS-affected families, who wage a daily battle against hunger, sickness, stigma and uncertainty.

Good nutrition helps those who are HIV-positive to fight the infections associated with HIV and AIDS, bolstering immunity to slow the progression of HIV to AIDS, and hastening recovery between bouts of illness. By providing food to support vulnerable individuals and their families, WFP helps to smooth the transition onto drug treatment and enable adherence to the regimen.

Nutritional supplements help pregnant women who are HIV-positive to improve birth outcomes and child growth. This improves the whole family's quality of life. WFP uses food aid to reach households affected by HIV and AIDS in several ways: In countries such as Uganda, the agency provides food via the home-based care initiatives of local community groups. In Cambodia and many other places around the world, WFP provides food through health centres to individuals infected with TB. This enables people, who would otherwise need to be working to pay for their next meal, the time to complete their course of treatment.

WFP is also supporting prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programmes in countries such as Mozambique. Nutritional support helps affected families cope with the food needs and vulnerability brought about by HIV and AIDS.