Hepatologists want to improve the liver health of Spaniards and to this end have submitted a national plan to the Ministry of Health with measures that partly depend on government powers, such as making healthy foods cheaper and increasing taxation on foods with more saturated fats. and raise alcohol prices.
At an informative meeting dedicated to the presentation of the “National Liver Health Plan: Challenge 2032”, organized by Europa Press and the pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and AbbVie, the President of the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH), Manuel Romero, explained that the Plan consists of 56 measures that focus on prevention , since the vast majority of liver diseases are preventable and depend on lifestyle changes. In statements to EFE, José Luis Calleja, head of the gastroenterology and hepatology service at the University Hospital of Puerta de Hierro, and Javier Crespo, head of the digestive system service at the Marques de Valdecilla Hospital, said that the document was already in development. The General Directorate of Public Health and hepatologists are waiting for the call to “get to work.”
These experts noted that the plan contains two types of measures: one for the general population, related to preventing obesity, reducing alcohol consumption and knowledge of the mechanisms of transmission of viral hepatitis, “and others for when they are sick.” And, according to Crespo, the regulation of alcohol consumption depends on government powers, and today in Spain, he said, “it is cheaper to drink a liter of Coca-Cola at McDonald’s than to drink a bottle of water.”
For his part, Calleja is focusing on implementing actions that will make healthy eating cheaper, since the most disadvantaged social classes are the ones who resort most to so-called “junk food.” Regarding alcohol, they agreed that the solution to reducing consumption is to “increase prices, as in the case of tobacco,” which they acknowledged is very difficult in a wine-producing country like Spain. Calleja insists that “there is no safe drinking of alcohol, and there are no studies showing that drinking it has any benefits.” He stressed that in patients with liver disease, consumption should be zero, as well as in those with obesity, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome or diabetes. And for a healthy young person aged 20, low-risk consumption would be a maximum of two units of alcohol per week.
In addition, this expert advocates investing in molecular and genetic research that will allow us to evaluate the impact of alcohol on the patient. Crespo suggested that companies selling alcohol in Spain should dedicate part of their profits to research into liver diseases caused by alcohol consumption. Regarding the issue of the eight-year plan (until 2032), both experts agreed that everything would depend on “political determination” and recalled that the Hepatitis C Strategic Plan was drawn up in one month” and in four years There were great results.” The hepatology plan, prepared at the request of Congress after the legislative session, also calls for education in schools to let students know that eating healthy and avoiding alcohol is good for their health, as well as raising awareness about screening to diagnose the disease. early stage.
They admit that some measures are easy to implement, such as raising taxes on alcohol: “all it takes is political determination,” they say.
At the meeting, AEEH Secretary Rocío Aller said that in Spain, chronic liver disease is already a public health problem. Although it is a disease with many faces, with a more benign form, inflammation of the liver and hepatitis, which affects more than two million Spaniards and 400,000 possible patients with cirrhosis of the liver who do not even know it. These are “silent” diseases for which early diagnosis is necessary, since in the early stages the disease is reversible, and a healthy diet and exercise are the main prevention and treatment. During the day, experts sent a message to the political class that “investing in the liver means saving” and reminded them that hepatologists already know that morbidity and mortality rates will rise at an extraordinary rate in four years without any action being taken.EFE