A confluence of factors – urbanisation, industrialisation, poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle – have triggered a surge in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Algeria. NCDs now account for 76 percent of all deaths in the North African nation.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading individual cause of death in Algeria, accounting for a full 36 percent of the total mortality rate.

Meanwhile infectious disease has not gone away, as demonstrated by recent outbreaks of cholera in and around the capital city, Algiers.