Why liver must be at the heart of the UN's health plan
22 October 2025
A new international paper co-authored by Professor Debbie Shawcross is calling for urgent action to put liver health at the heart of the world’s fight against chronic disease.
The paper – Closing the Gap: Why Liver Health Must Be Central to the United Nations Political Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases – warns that global health leaders are overlooking one of the world’s fastest-growing health threats.
A major omission in the UN's health plan
The United Nations’ forthcoming 2025 Political Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) aims to cut premature deaths from conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes by a third by 2030. But despite listing key risk factors like obesity, alcohol and tobacco, it makes no mention of liver disease – even though the liver is directly damaged by each of them.
“Recognising these risk factors is encouraging, but the devil is in the detail,” the authors of the study write. “One striking omission stands out: the recognition of steatotic liver disease as a core NCD.”
Liver disease is now one of the fastest-growing global health crises
One in three adults affected
Around 1.5 billion people globally live with liver disease. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as NAFLD, now affects one in three adults worldwide. It is tightly linked to obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome – yet remains largely invisible in global health strategies.
Without explicit recognition of liver disease in UN and WHO frameworks, countries are unlikely to prioritise it in national plans or healthcare systems. That means millions will continue to miss out on early diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
“Without naming liver disease, we cannot measure its impact – and without measurement, there can be no accountability,” the paper warns.
A growing global movement
The good news is that momentum is building to change this. The Healthy Livers, Healthy Lives Coalition – led by EASL, AASLD, ALEH, COLDA and APASL – is pushing for liver disease to be fully recognised within global NCD frameworks.
At the same time, the EASL-Lancet Liver Commission 2.0 is developing a roadmap for prevention, screening and care that could help transform how countries respond to liver disease.
A call to world leaders
The authors end with a clear message to policymakers: without liver health, the UN’s vision of reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases will fail.
“Liver health must be recognised as integral to the NCD agenda,” they write. “Ambitious, measurable targets are needed to ensure screening, prevention and treatment for liver disease are embedded in universal health coverage. Without this, the promise to ‘leave no one behind’ will remain out of reach.”
The Foundation for Liver Research continues to lead the call for liver health to be recognised at every level of global health policy. Thank you to all those who continue to stand behind this cause.
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