World Liver Day promotes small habits that can yield big health gains
Up to 90% of cases can be prevented by improved policies, lifestyle changes
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April 19 marks World Liver Day, a global effort to raise awareness about liver health and the growing burden of liver disease. This year’s campaign focuses on the role of everyday habits in disease prevention.
Built around the theme “Strong Habits, Strong Liver,” the campaign highlights four key behaviors that can help protect liver health: maintaining a balanced diet, staying physically active, reducing alcohol intake, and undergoing regular liver checkups.
It is estimated that 1.5 billion people worldwide live with a chronic liver condition and that around 2 million lives are lost to liver disease each year.
Because liver disease often develops silently, many people are unaware of having the condition until it has progressed to an advanced stage. However, up to 90% of cases can be prevented through improved health policies and lifestyle changes.
This World Liver Day, global experts, clinicians, and researchers are coming together to help change this trajectory by promoting awareness and prevention of common liver conditions such as steatotic liver disease, while also increasing visibility for rare diseases like Alagille syndrome.
“One small step you can take today and is in your control, is learning how your individual habits affect your liver health,” the event’s webpage states, reinforcing the message that small, consistent actions can prevent, and even reverse certain liver diseases, “one brick” at a time.
Initiative led by international group of associations
The initiative is led by an international group of associations working together to raise awareness, influence policy, and improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. These include the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the Latin American Association for the Study of the Liver, the Asian-Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), and the Society on Liver Disease in Africa.
These advocacy groups are highlighting practical steps people can take to protect their livers, either to prevent liver disease or to potentially slow the progression of liver damage in those experiencing liver problems.
“Your liver deserves care at every stage – starting today makes a difference,” the associations say in their campaign toolkit.
Eating a well-balanced diet remains a key pillar of liver health. For instance, unhealthy diets, particularly those high in ultra-processed foods, sugar, and saturated fats, are a major risk factor for the development of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, a condition marked by liver fat accumulation that affects one-third of the global adult population.
Physical inactivity and alcohol consumption are also significant contributors to liver damage. A sedentary lifestyle can worsen metabolic health and accelerate fat accumulation in the liver, and heavy alcohol use causes alcohol-associated liver disease.
While unhealthy habits are not directly responsible for certain liver conditions, they can worsen liver damage. Many rare liver diseases, including Alagille syndrome, biliary atresia, and primary biliary cholangitis, are characterized by problems with the flow of bile, a digestive fluid produced by the liver. This impairs the body’s ability to absorb fats and fat-soluble vitamins, making an appropriate diet essential to prevent growth deficits in children and malnutrition in both children and adults.
Early detection key to improving outcomes
Regular liver checkups are also being encouraged as part of this year’s campaign, particularly because many liver diseases can progress without noticeable symptoms. Early detection is considered key to improving outcomes and preventing complications.
The campaign offers a range of educational resources on nutrition, physical activity, alcohol reduction, and routine screening. These are complemented by a campaign video featuring physician and 2017 MasterChef UK winner Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed, who demonstrates how simple daily habits, from preparing nourishing meals to staying active and keeping up with checkups, can support liver health.
Together, we can make liver disease prevention a shared global habit.
Supporters are also encouraged to participate through social media by sharing the campaign’s materials and/or photos of themselves cooking a liver-friendly recipe from the World Liver Day Recipe book using the hashtags #WorldLiverDay and #StrongHabitsStrongLiver and tagging @WorldLiverDay. The best photo entries, posted on April 19, will be featured on the campaign’s website and social media.
“Together, we can make liver disease prevention a shared global habit,” the event’s webpage states.
As with last year’s initiative, a variety of other events will be held worldwide to support the campaign, such as public health awareness activities, educational webinars, and free liver testing.
“Liver disease isn’t a niche issue. It sits at the crossroads of many of the most pressing health challenges we face globally,” Debbie Shawcross, PhD, the secretary general of EASL and a clinician scientist and professor at The Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies in London, said in a press release from the U.K.-based Foundation for Liver Research. “The encouraging news is we now have a far better understanding of how it develops — and how we can intervene earlier to help patients.”
