ADVANCE/Wiz Technology to launch first CD-ROM program on AIDS; publisher says simple scientific explanation of AIDS is suitable for the education of grade-school children and adults.

(ADVANCE) SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The first computer software program providing a comprehensive scientific explanation of AIDS, prepared for children and adults alike, will be launched worldwide by Wiz Technology Inc. (ASE:WIZ/WIZ.EC), publisher of budget software for the educational, home and small-business markets. It has been priced at $9.95.

The CD-ROM program, title ``All About AIDS,'' utilizes multimedia with animation, sound, video, graphics, text and interactivity to present the core concepts of AIDS. Taken together with a module of 50 frequently asked questions and answers about AIDS, the program simplifies for non-medical individuals the entire process of the disease from its transmission to death.

Mar-Jeanne Tendler, Wiz chairman and chief executive officer, said the company plans to donate 10,000 programs to selected school districts for educational purposes and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the product to various AIDS groups to further their educational and research activities.

Citing AIDS as ``the most important health issue facing society today,'' Yuan Lin, M.D., a cardiovascular surgeon at Scripps Hospital, San Diego, said, ``education is the best treatment for this disease''; and characterized the new Wiz program as ``an excellent tool for self-education.''

The author of the program, Russell Bennett, president of Irvine Interactive Inc. of San Diego, said he views the program ``as not only an important technological tool in the education of children and adults about the many medical intricacies of AIDS, but also as a means of preventing this dreaded, always fatal, widely misunderstood disease.''

Tendler said that while Wiz believes the program ``belongs in the computer library of every household equipped with multimedia capabilities'' it ``also belongs in every grade school.''

Although many people ``are ignorant of how the disease functions,'' she said, ``most adolescents and adults are aware of the basic means of transmission. Thus, our primary interest is in children where education in their early years will lead to far fewer deaths in their later years.''

She said she believes that ``trained school personnel, utilizing selected portions of the program, will have a great influence on the behavior of children in the years ahead. The drug programs in our grade schools are proving quite effective and I believe AIDS education, utilizing tools such as the `All About AIDS' program, also will prove effective.''

The executive said: ``There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that many well-intended parents will strenuously object to AIDS education in the classroom, believing that AIDS education belongs in the home. I feel the classroom is the better venue, because not all parents are capable of objectively, effectively and accurately discussing the program with their children. AIDS is too serious a problem to succumb to parental egos. It should be taught by those most qualified to teach it.''

``Education,'' she said, ``is the only beacon of light we have at this time in controlling the spread of AIDS among the young and the old, and it is our hope that this program will help to expedite this process.''

The program depicts molecules coming to life, viruses gliding insidiously through the blood stream, needles entering arms and considerable detail on a series of AIDS-related subjects, such as pathology, virus, IV drugs, medicine, risks, groups, number and immunology.

``You can spend a half-hour viewing selected elements of the program,'' said Bennett, ``or you can spend literally hours exploring the pathology, the virus itself and the other medically technical modules that depict the effects of the AIDS virus on the lungs, heart, brain, nerves, liver and other organs.''

In addition to charting the high-risk groups, the countries where AIDS is running rampant, the increase of AIDS in heterosexual relationships, the rise of AIDS among women and the rapidly rising toll of AIDS-related tuberculosis in the United States, especially in the 24-to-44-year-old age group, the program also offers tips on how to minimize the risk of transmitting the AIDS virus.

Wiz products are marketed throughout the United States and 13 other nations by computer specialty stores, drug stores and chains of mass merchandisers.

In 1990, following three years of studies at the Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, the program's author engaged in the research of AIDS and other fatal diseases. Today, his career focuses principally on the development of medically related, educational software products. He presently has 12 software products in the market, some of which have been translated into Japanese and Mandarin. More than 150 universities in the United States, Europe, Japan and China have incorporated some or all of his software products into their curricula. Among the institutions that have incorporated Bennett's software into their curricula are Northwestern University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of California campuses at Los Angeles, Davis, San Diego and San Francisco, Wellesley College, the University of Texas at Austin and New Mexico State University.

(End of advance for May 1995)

CONTACT: ACC Communications, Irvine, Calif.

Paul Keil/Andy Malone, 714/474-9671