Experts warn on UK’s burden of liver disease in

In a major new commission by the Lancet medical journal, doctors and scientists call for a radical scaling-up of liver disease treatment and detection facilities in the UK, which has one of the worst rates of death from liver disease in Europe.

In comments likely to be seen as highly-critical of Government policy, it calls for action on minimum alcohol pricing, warnings on alcohol packaging and regulation of sugar content in food and drinks - all of which have been rejected by the coalition.

The UK is the only country in western Europe except Finland where cases of liver disease have increased in the past three decades. Deaths from the disease for those under 65 have increased by almost 500 per cent since 1970.

Prof Roger Williams, director of the Institute of Hepatology in London, who led the commission, said: “There is a human, social, and financial imperative to act now if the UK’s burden of liver disease and all its consequences are to be tackled and the NHS is not to be overwhelmed by the cost of treating advanced stage liver disease.”

Although one in 10 people in the UK suffer liver disease, the commission finds early detection through GPs is “virtually non-existent”, even though the disease is much more effectively treated if identified early.

Liver disease is closely linked to deprivation, with parts of the North West having four times as many deaths as more affluent areas.