A grand new world war against AIDS

[Guest guest]

A grand new world war against AIDS

Mandira Nayar

NEW DELHI: For once cricket played on your mobile phone screen will

be for a cause. However, in this game the stakes are much higher

than in any India-Pakistan cricket match. For the batsman will get

only 60 balls and 300 seconds to collect all the right symbols --

condoms, faithful partners, HIV information and AIDS red ribbon --

to " secure " himself against the deadly AIDS.

Using mobile mania that has gripped the country to do more than just

connect people, ZQM Software Systems in the Capital is all set to

tackle one of the biggest hurdles in checking transmission of AIDS --

lack of general awareness -- through fun and games. It will launch

four mobile phone games on World AIDS Day, December 1, under the

banner of " Freedom from AIDS/ HIV " . The initiative, supported by the

Delhi State AIDS Control Society, will be launched by Chief Minister

Sheila Dikshit.

From Safety XI battling Demons XI to win the match, the games also

include a Kaun Banega Crorepati-type quiz. The player has three

lifelines to " lock " the right answers to an assortment of questions

on AIDS.

Targeting different mind-sets as well as the psychology of mobile

phone users, the games are designed in such a way that they appeal

to the casual player as well as the game enthusiast addicted to the

buttons on his keypad. The " Ribbon Chase " is one such live game in

which the player is the red ribbon and he has to deliver messages to

different cities in the world with the HIV virus chasing him.

While India might not be ready to talk openly about the ways AIDS

spreads, ZQM Software Systems has decided to ensure that

conversations about the proverbial birds and the bees will probably

never be the same again. Judging by the numbers of young Indians

deciding to go mobile, these games will reach many more people with

the press of a button.

One of the biggest social initiative in the world on the mobile

phone, the games will be available free to 9 million subscribers of

Reliance Infocomm on World AIDS Day. These will then be improvised

for other mobile subscribers in the upcoming New Year.

However, ZQM Software Systems is looking to add a different

dimension to " globalisation " and hopes to be able to spread the

message much further than the shores of India. And these games would

be changed in terms of content and language by December next year to

get people in Africa, South America, Eastern Europe and South-East

Asia also to play.

http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/27/stories/2005112713730100.htm