The Chronic Diseases Initiative in Africa is a collaboration between the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Western Cape, the SA Medical Research Council, the Western Cape provincial government and Shree Hindu Mandal Hospital and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Tanzania and Harvard University, USA.

The Initiative will serve as a regional hub for developing and evaluating models for chronic disease care and prevention of their risk factors. The network aims to train chronic disease researchers and to work closely with government authorities in the formulation of cost-effective plans to reduce the impact of chronic diseases and their risk factors.