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UNICEF unveils computer game on AIDS
AIDS combat takes the fun route.
BY CORRESPONDENT
November 8, 2006
Fighting AIDS can take the fun route now. With the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) unveiling a computer game for young people aimed at enabling them combat diseases like AIDS, the fight against the dreaded disease is seen as taking an easier track.
The AIDS computer game, available in English and Swahili versions
here, takes the player through a series of relationship-based scenarios that emphasise the importance of HIV-prevention and testing.
The game is in Swahili and is intended to make it accessible to East African adolescents and young people. According to VOY (Voices of Youth), a decade-old initiative focused on exploring the educational and community building potential of the Internet, the game provides thousands of people from over 180 countries with an opportunity to self-inform, engage in lively debate, and partner with their peers and decision makers to create a world fit for children.
The initiative comes following study results that said that a whopping 80 per cent of youth still don't know how to protect themselves from the HIV virus. Of the 2.3 million under 15 children living with HIV, 2 million are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The game has been welcomed with enthusiasm. While some of the enthusiasts commented on the need to use a form of Swahili comprehensible across the region, many are of the opinion that the game should be programmed in such a way it works on mobile phones too.
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