NAIROBI, Sept 19 (AFP) - Kenya's first lady, Lucy Kibaki, expressed concern Friday that women are bearing the brunt of cultural practices that increase the spread of AIDS, and urged health experts and communities to help women fight the disease.

"Women bore the brunt of social and cultural practices that fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS and there is need for them to be equipped with relevent information in order to effectively deal with the effects of the disease," said the wife of Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki.

African cultural practices such female genital mutilation and the marrying off of girls to older men are some of the traditions that may exacerbate the spread of AIDS, Kibaki said when she opened a community forum to discuss the AIDS pandemic ahead of an international AIDS conference.

Starting Sunday, Kenya plays host to a major conference on AIDS in Africa.

"Women should be provided with more opportunities to participate in the planning and implementing of HIV/AIDS policies and interventions," said Kibaki.

"There is need for effective community approaches to protect the youth and children against HIV/AIDS," she added.

Kenya's health ministry this week launched a programme to supply subsidized antitretroviral drugs to 6,000 people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

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