MPs from across the UK took part in the first-ever parliamentary debate on fatty liver disease at Westminster Hall on Tuesday, 28th October.
The debate was secured by Dr Beccy Cooper MP, the Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Liver Disease and Liver Cancer, which is run by the British Liver Trust. Dr Cooper was an outstanding advocate for all patients across the UK, highlighting the significant but unrecognised burden of fatty liver disease and risks we face with two thirds of the population living with excess weight or obesity.
The debate was a hugely impactful opportunity for MPs to highlight fatty liver disease (MALSD) with the Department of Health Minister, Karin Smyth MP. The Minister congratulated the British Liver Trust on its “fantastic campaigning and briefing, which has clearly paid dividends.”
GP, Dr Simon Opher MP MBE, who spoke in the debate, thanked the British Liver Trust for providing lots of data and information. He reflected that as a GP, “I have learned quite a lot from preparing this speech”.
Co-Chair of the All-Party Group on Liver Disease, Lorraine Beavers MP, and Marie Rimmer MP passionately shared the impact of liver disease on their constituents. Marie’s constituency of St Helens has the highest rate of deaths from liver disease in England, and Lorraine’s constituency has the second-highest rate of deaths from fatty liver disease. Marie Rimmer MP eloquently shared the story of Stephen – who tragically died from fatty liver disease, aged just 62.
Fatty liver disease, or MASLD, is a major driver of serious liver damage, with up to 1 in 5 people affected by MASLD and as many as 12% of those (over a million people) with MASH, the more severe form of fatty liver disease. The debate was an opportunity to raise awareness of the disease and ensure the NHS is ‘patient ready’ to deliver the new generation of medications to treat fatty liver disease.
Government progress needed
Pamela Healy OBE, Chief Executive of the British Liver Trust, said: “Fatty liver disease is a silent killer which affects one in five people in the UK. Today’s debate has been hugely impactful if highlighting this public health emergency and raising awareness and profile in Parliament.
“Government needs to progress its work to tackle obesity outlined in the 10 Year Plan. We need full pathways for the early detection of liver disease across all ICBs and health boards.
“The NHS also needs to be patient ready to ensure the next generation of medications to treat fatty liver disease are available for those patients at the point of need.”
Dr Beccy Cooper, the lead sponsor for the debate and MP for Worthing West, said the huge increase in MASLD in the past two decades could not be tackled by pointing fingers at individuals and saying they must try harder to lose weight. She argued that there are much more effective public health solutions, adding: “This debate is an opportunity to make the urgent case for a national liver strategy and joined-up public health work.
“There is a clear need for … increased public awareness, early liver checks and every integrated care board should have a pathway for the early detection of liver disease. We must make sure that liver cancer is integrated into the national cancer strategy, and that diagnosis and treatment are a key part of it and are funded across the country.”
Jim Shannon, MP for Strangford in Northern Ireland, argued that the NHS must ensure it can support the delivery of new drugs which can improve liver function, aid weight loss and reverse fatty liver disease. Mr Shannon thanked the British Liver Trust for providing a comprehensive briefing on MASLD and commended the excellent work at the Foundation for Liver Research, and Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies, which continues to drive world-leading research into metabolic liver disease to shape how it is diagnosed and treated.
Struggling communities
Lorraine Beavers, MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, spoke movingly about how the causes of fatty liver disease and disparities in income case can impact on individual families and whole communities.
She said: “The world we live in is one where the cheapest food is often the least healthy, and where families in struggling communities have fewer choices and less support. In parts of the north-west, people are dying 10 years younger than those in the wealthier areas. Behind every statistic is a family torn apart.”
Dr Simon Opher, MP for Stroud, highlighted Government plans to shift health provision from cure to prevention. He added: “We want to get out of hospitals and into the community, and a lot of work around fatty liver disease can be done in the community. We also need to use data properly to target people and to look at the digital ways in which we can identify high-risk people. As a government, we are bringing in rules about advertising unhealthy food before the 9 o’clock watershed, which I welcome. We also need to halt brand advertising before that time, because when people see a sign saying “McDonald’s”, they do not think about salads, do they?”
Dr Cooper concluded the debate by saying that 90% of liver disease is preventable and the job of parliamentarians is to make sure that the messages and signals they send, and the legislation they pass, encourages a healthy environment for everyone to live in.
Thank you to the Foundation for Liver Research for supporting us with the work for this debate.
