In Response to a Written Question by MP Azzedine Zehouf, Minister of the Interior Saïd Sayoud Discloses Measures Adopted to Curb Fatal Incidents Caused by the “Silent Killer”
✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Algiers – December 2025 – In response to a written parliamentary question addressed by MP Azzedine Zehouf to the Prime Minister Saïd Ghraib, concerning the strategy adopted to reduce deadly incidents resulting from carbon monoxide poisoning, the Minister of the Interior, Local Authorities and Transport, Saïd Sayoud, issued a detailed reply.
Sayoud stated: “I have received, with utmost consideration, your written question regarding the measures taken to limit fatal incidents caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.”
He added: “In this regard, and under the guidance of the Prime Minister, allow me first to inform you that the government’s strategy to contain this phenomenon is multi-sectoral and involves various stakeholders, working in coordinated fashion to establish policies capable of safeguarding and preserving human lives.”
The Minister of the Interior, Local Assemblies and Transport further noted: “Within this framework, our ministerial department, as part of its preventive approach towards domestic accidents—particularly carbon monoxide-related suffocation—sets, every year, a specific winter program, implemented by the General Directorate of Civil Protection through its diverse services and units deployed across the national territory.”
In this context, Saïd Sayoud revealed that a comprehensive awareness-raising and outreach plan has been established to prevent casualties during the 2025 winter season caused by this silent and lethal gas. The plan includes the organization of national preventive campaigns launched on 6 October and extending until the end of March 2026, under the slogan: “A Winter Without Accidents… For Safe Warmth.”
According to the Minister, this program includes several core components, among them the reinforcement of local awareness operations throughout all municipalities and newly connected housing complexes benefiting from the urban gas distribution network. These actions are implemented through preventive mobile caravans targeting residents, as well as coordinated missions with the national electricity and gas distribution company to inspect heating devices and installations during field-based awareness activities carried out alongside relevant partners. The program also includes support for the installation of carbon monoxide detectors, while mobilizing mosques and imams, particularly during Friday sermons, to disseminate preventive messages. The initiative is further reinforced through pedagogical lessons in educational institutions of all levels, vocational training centres—especially for trainees specializing in plumbing—and universities.
Similarly, awareness campaigns have been intensified on radio and television with the participation of all relevant actors, alongside the broadcasting of public service messages through national and local channels. Additionally, text messages were sent via the three mobile operators on 6, 20 and 30 October 2025, with further messages scheduled throughout the autumn and winter seasons. Awareness exhibitions were also set up in public squares, while social media platforms were used extensively to share informational clips and brochures, as outlined in Saïd Sayoud’s response.
In presenting the preventive strategy against carbon monoxide risks, the Minister stated that more than 5,291 awareness activities have been recorded nationwide since the beginning of the year, including 1,387 actions in public spaces, 1,831 in educational institutions, 1,604 in mosques during Friday sermons, 276 in vocational training institutes—particularly for trainees in sanitary installation—193 activities in higher education institutions, in addition to the distribution of more than 95,000 brochures addressing domestic accidents, with emphasis on carbon monoxide-related risks.
Saïd Sayoud pointed out that the national program is undertaken in coordination with various ministerial sectors such as health, education, religious affairs, vocational training, trade, water resources and public works, as well as institutions like universities, the electricity and gas distribution company, and with the participation of civil society and media outlets of all types. The aim is to amplify outreach and instill a strong culture of prevention and risk management among citizens, with a focus on community-based preventive work.
In this respect, the Minister stressed that these campaigns have produced positive results, noting a recorded decrease in the number of victims in 2025 compared to 2024. From 1 January to 30 September of the current year, 541 interventions were carried out, allowing the rescue of 1,272 individuals.
Below is the full text of the written question submitted by MP Azzedine Zehouf:
Mr. Prime Minister,
Greetings,
Strategic foresight is a vital instrument for shifting from a reactive culture to proactive engagement, and from crisis management to building a safer future. Based on this premise, and in view of the alarming statistics for 2024—which recorded 114 deaths and 2,178 individuals rescued from gas-related suffocation—we address you, Mr. Prime Minister, with the following questions, with the aim of transforming this recurring tragedy into a point of departure for effective preventive policies.
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What is the government’s comprehensive and integrated strategy to reduce this critical phenomenon that repeatedly claims citizens’ lives, especially with the onset of winter?
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How is coordination ensured among the relevant ministerial sectors (Energy, Interior, Trade, Health) to address the structural causes of these incidents, with particular emphasis on:
• Strengthening oversight over the quality and safety of new and used devices on the market.
• Regulating the profession of installation and maintenance to prevent unsafe practices. -
Is there a plan to enhance awareness campaigns to include not only informing citizens, but also enabling early detection of risks arising from certain types of devices or hazardous patterns of use?
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What new mechanisms can be implemented for proactive oversight of the marketing and sale of devices—especially used or non-compliant ones—both online and in physical shops?
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What deterrent sanctions are currently enforced against those who jeopardize citizens’ safety by promoting unsafe devices or installing them in an unprofessional manner?
Please accept, Mr. Prime Minister, the highest expressions of respect and consideration.
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