Posted by admin in In Kenya, a country where the prevalence rate of HIV is quite high, teenagers are learning about the dreaded disease and its prevention in a novel way — through entertainment.
Warner Brothers Interactive has created a video game which is being tried out in various test sites in Kenya. Its results are being studied by behavioral psychologists from Emory University to find out if it is really effective in reducing HIV risk.
In the video game titled Pamoja Mtaani, Swahili for Together in the Hood, players lead the characters through different missions and games, and along the way, make decisions about whether to have sex and, if to use a condom in case they indulge in this act.
To drive home the point, the game tries to relate its story to player’s real lives. Characters play football, listen to popular Kenyan hip-hop, and wander through neighborhoods that resemble Nairobi.
Pamoja Mtaani has been produced in a partnership between Warner Brothers and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. Warner Brothers had contracted Virtual Heroes, a games company, to create this game.
Brad Wilson of Virtual Heroes said during the course of the game, each of the five characters initially practice some type of behavior that puts them at risk of contracting HIV.
“Through interactions with themselves and other characters, they learn that these behaviors they are doing are actually risky and there are ramifications for those,” he said. Wilson hoped the message would sink in to the youth.
If the project is successful, Warner Brothers may bring the game to more countries, altering the characters and the scenery to fit specific nations.
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