This case study explores the trade-offs between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through the lens of an imaginary country: Progressia. This may not be a place on the map, but the facts on which it is based, and the dilemmas it faces, are real.

From a biomedical perspective, non-communicable disease (NCD) is not a new problem, particularly in the global North. However, awareness of the increasing burden from these conditions in low- and middle-income countries (L&MICs) has only recently emerged in the arena of development policy and practice.