The Lancet has published the second report by the EASL-Lancet Commission on Liver Health in Europe, a comprehensive study analysing the growing impact of liver diseases on the continent and setting out specific, evidence-based recommendations to reduce mortality. The report warns that cirrhosis and liver cancer cause nearly 780 deaths in Europe every day, diseases that are largely preventable, and emphasizes the urgent need for action in prevention, early diagnosis and coordinated public policies.
The University of Barcelona, the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) have played a significant role in this report, through two of the three Spanish commissioners: Pere Ginès, professor of Medicine at the UB's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, senior consultant at the Hepatology Service at Hospital Clínic and head of the Chronic Liver Diseases group: molecular mechanisms and clinical consequences at IDIBAPS and the CIBER Area for Hepatic and Digestive Diseases Area (CIBEREHD), and Núria Fabrellas, professor of Public and Community Health Nursing at the UB's Faculty of Nursing and researcher in the same group.
A crisis with a major economic impact and preventable causes
The report highlights that liver diseases represent a very significant healthcare and economic burden, mainly due to lost productivity and premature deaths. In fact, it estimates that, in the absence of these diseases, the economies of European countries would be around €55 billion larger each year.
