February 8, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Socially minded video games have been used to raise awareness about poverty in the developing world, genocide in Darfur, and environmental degradation. Next on the list of topics to be tackled: HIV and AIDS.
The Kaiser Family Foundation, in Menlo Park, Calif., and MTVu, an MTV network broadcast on college campuses, are sponsoring a contest asking college students to come up with ideas for a game that identifies ways to prevent the spread of the disease and emphasizes the prevalence of HIV and AIDS among young people.
“This is a generation that has grown up hearing about these medicines that prolong life. There’s a sense of ‘This is a manageable disease. I don’t have to worry about it,’” says Stephen K. Friedman, general manager of mtvU. “Our hope is that the game will show there are very clear things that you can do to prevent it.”
The winning individual or team will receive $5,000 and the opportunity to develop their idea with Kaiser and MTVu — which have committed $75,000 to build and market the game.
The game is part of Kaiser’s efforts to spread public-health messages in partnership with entertainment companies. Popular media can play a critical role, particularly in reaching young people, says Tina Hoff, a vice president at the foundation.
“To some degree, it’s about trying to get out information without seeming like you’re getting out information,” she says.
The foundation is currently testing a cellphone campaign that would allow people to send a text message with their ZIP code and get back a list of health-care centers where they could get tested for HIV and AIDS.
The deadline to submit a game idea for the Change the Course of HIV Challenge is March 16.
For more information: Go to http://www.mtvu.com/on_mtvu/activism/hivchallenge/game.
