IDF Africa Region

IDF Africa logoThe elected IDF Representatives for the Africa Region are:

Chair: Silver Bahendeka, Uganda
Vice-Chair: Evarist Bouenizabila, Republic of Congo
Regional Manager: John Niwagaba

The IDF Africa Region includes more than 37 Sub-Saharan African countries plus the islands of Madagascar and Seychelles. The Region has a very cosmopolitan population consisting of mostly Bantus and Arabs, with significant Indian, European and Chinese migrant communities located in Eastern and Southern Africa and on the islands of Madagascar and Seychelles.

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is low in both rural and urban Bantu communities, but is ten times more prevalent in Muslim and Hindu communities in Tanzania and South Africa, and in the Chinese community in Mauritius.  Type 1 diabetes, while still rare, is becoming increasingly prevalent. Diabetes is already a major public health problem in Africa and its impact is bound to increase significantly if nothing is done to curb the rising rate of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), which now exceeds 16% in some countries.

The principal objectives of the African Region are to:

  • Create new member associations
  • Strengthen existing member associations through awareness programmes
  • Stimulate the formation of intra-regional joint diabetes research
  • Develop diabetes education
  • Reinforce collaboration with WHO


Events and activities

Newsletter

Read the first issue of the new IDF Africa Newsletter (pdf, 2MB).

e-Diabetes Africa

e-Diabetes Africa will officially start on Thursday, 13 October 2011, and will continue on a monthly basis with webcasts of lectures  every second Thursday of the month. The Lectures will be in French and English. Portuguese will be added later. The links to the various lectures will be available from the Regional Manager, Dr. John Niwagaba: niwagabaj@gmail.com.

The first Lecture will given by Dr. Kaushik Ramaiya, Consultant Physician, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Shree Hindu Mandal Hospital, and Hon. Lecturerer Muhimbili University. It will accessible the whole day Thursday.

1st African Diabetes Congress - Arusha, Tanzania, 25-28 July 2012

Theme: Health Care Delivery in Diabetes and other NCDs Focusing on Preventing Complications.

Africa Diabetes Care Initiative (ADCI)

IDF Africa Action Plan

On July 27 2009, the IDF African Region launched a critical action plan to address the escalating threat that diabetes poses to the region.

Diabetes Declaration and Strategy for Africa

A Diabetes Declaration and Strategy for Africa was launched during the 19th World Diabetes Congress in Cape Town, South Africa in 2006.

For further information about the Region, please contact silver.bahendeka@idf.org.