New WHO collaborating centre dedicated to addressing liver disease in European Region

Liver disease is one of the few major noncommunicable diseases (NCD) for which numbers are still rising across the WHO European Region, and its burden is alarming. It accounts for roughly 780 deaths a day, and the cost for health systems is huge, at approximately €55 billion every year. To help address this challenge, WHO, Imperial College London and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) have launched the first WHO collaborating centre in the United Kingdom dedicated to liver disease.

"Almost every other major killer in the European Region - heart disease, most cancers - is moving in the right direction. Liver disease is moving in the wrong one. That should alarm us more than it does. Cirrhosis and liver cancer account for around 3% of all death in this Region. Their drivers - alcohol, poor diet, viral hepatitis - are some of the most preventable risk factors," said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.

The new WHO Collaborating Centre on Steatotic Liver Disease will provide infrastructure to turn this knowledge into policy action. This is the first WHO collaborating centre that is designated in collaboration with a medical association. Supported by EASL's extensive clinical and scientific network, the centre will serve as a key mechanism for translating evidence-based health data and global commitments into national action.

A major overlooked life threat

Steatotic liver disease (SLD) - formerly known as fatty liver disease - often does not have symptoms and goes unnoticed until an advanced stage, when it can progress to cirrhosis and cancer.

SLD can develop when too much fat builds up inside liver cells. The liver normally processes fats and sugars from food, but when the body receives too much energy (e.g. from unhealthy diets, excess weight or alcohol) the liver starts storing extra fat, and over time loses the capacity to function.

The major drivers of this type of liver disease are alcohol use and unhealthy diets. Evidence suggests that nearly half of liver disease deaths could be prevented by addressing these risk factors.

Policies for better environments

Despite the potential for prevention, these risk factors continue to be reinforced by the environments people live in across the WHO European Region. Highly processed foods, sugar-sweetened alcoholic beverages and sophisticated marketing strategies make unhealthy choices easier and more accessible, particularly for young people. As a result, hepatologists across the Region are witnessing growing numbers of patients with advanced liver disease that could have been prevented.

Recognizing the scale of the problem, the 79th World Health Assembly in May 2026 adopted the first WHO resolution officially recognizing SLD as an NCD and calling on countries to integrate it into their national health strategies and strengthen prevention, surveillance and care.

The WHO resolution was supported by extensive clinical data from the April 2026 report of the second EASL-Lancet Commission, a multidisciplinary initiative that strives to address liver disease, including the SLD burden, globally through evidence-based policies.

Among these policy actions are:

• restrictions on the marketing of foods high in fat, salt and sugar, and of alcoholic beverages
• mandatory reformulation of processed food products to reduce sugar, salt and saturated fat content
• fiscal measures, including taxation, to reduce consumption of ultra-processed foods and alcohol
• policies aimed at reducing alcohol use and availability.
  

However, resolutions and scientific commissions alone do not improve health outcomes. Turning political commitment into practical action requires technical expertise, evidence, implementation support and sustained collaboration.

"Liver disease is no longer a silent condition - it is a growing public health failure that we have the tools to prevent. What is missing is not evidence, but action," said Professor Debbie Shawcross, EASL Secretary General, King's College London.

Creating an infrastructure for progress

The WHO Collaborating Centre on Steatotic Liver Disease will help ensure that liver health becomes part of broader NCD strategies, rather than remaining a separate clinical issue. By supporting countries in addressing shared risk factors, such as harmful alcohol use, unhealthy diets, obesity and metabolic disorders, the Centre can contribute to more integrated and effective approaches to disease prevention.

"Liver disease puts an alarmingly heavy burden on European Region health systems. In the United Kingdom, for example, SLD accounts for about 1 in 20 hospital admissions. A 4-year workplan sounds modest against that scale, but it is the first time the infrastructure has existed to make sustained progress against it," commented Professor Pinelopi Manousou, co-director of the Collaborating Centre.

Over the coming 4 years, the Centre will support countries in strengthening their response to SLD through evidence generation, policy development, technical guidance and capacity-building. Its work will include a pan-European Region assessment of SLD, the development of evidence-based policy reports covering the major forms of the disease, and the creation of prevention tools, training materials and implementation guidance that countries can use to strengthen national programmes.

In summarizing the importance of this initiative Professor Mark Thursz, co-director of the Collaborating Centre, said: "The launch of the Collaborating Centre marks an important shift in the global response to liver disease - from recognizing the problem to building the systems, partnerships and policies needed to address it".