Beat HIV/AIDS on a Computer

As part of a fundraising effort and HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, New Delhi-based gaming company ZMQ Software Systems released four games in December 2005 that can be accessed by users of Reliance Infocomm, one of India's largest private cellphone service providers. This article looks at the games and the access to them in the first six months.

Collectively christened "Freedom HIV/AIDS", the games include:

• "Safety Cricket" is modelled after the game of cricket and includes the Demons XI and Safety XI where the safety team is set a target while balls appear to impede them - in the form of condoms, faithful partners, information on HIV and the symbolic AIDS red ribbon. The team avoid "googlies" and doosra balls - unsafe sex, infected blood transfusion, infected syringes and the company of "bad" friends.
• "Ribbon Chase" is an arcade game that requires the player to deliver messages to different cities of the world while being pursued by the HIV virus.
• "Messenger", an adventure game, has a dove flying from village to village with condoms and red ribbons. The more condoms and ribbons distributed the higher the score of the gamer.
• "Quiz with Babu" displays a young man with information on HIV/AIDS and users are challenged to test their knowledge against his.

As noted in this article, Reliance Infocomm has indicated that it will hand over an undisclosed amount of the revenues generated by its users who dial up to download the games to projects helping people infected with HIV/AIDS. And according to Subhi Quraishi, chief executive officer of ZMQ Software Systems, "We are not charging Reliance any money. Nor have we taken any money from the Delhi State AIDS Control Society (DSACS), which has supported this venture. DSACS has helped to authenticate the content of the games. We are using our own money to develop the games. It is our corporate social responsibility to use technology and expertise for a cause like HIV and AIDS awareness programmes."

This article indicates that the firm was planning to launch the games globally, converting the content and language compatible to regions of Africa, South East Asia, Central Asia and Latin America by September 2006.

Click here for the full article online.

Also see the following articles:

Touched by Tech: Anywhere, Anytime AIDS Awareness by Samir Makwana, September 2006.

'Safe' cricket by Swapna Majumdar, June 2 2006.

ZMQ launches four mobile games on HIV/AIDS awareness, December 1 2005.

And click here for additional press on this project, collected by ZMQ Software Systems.