Kampala — Uganda will be one of the first countries to benefit from a master plan to fight diabetes in Africa.

The initiative is packaged on three inter-related programmes: diabetes education, the care of the child with diabetes and prevention of diabetes complications, which at times lead to body amputations.

This is targeting communities with little or no provision for diabetes care. Dr. Silver Bahendeka, who chairs the Africa's International Diabetes Foundation wing said: "This is a great move to save millions of Africans, who are vulnerable to non-communicable diseases."

The initiative will be launched at the end of this month in South Africa, during the Diabetes Leadership Forum Africa 2010, which is set to highlight ways to address and strengthen public health systems.