The Love Your Liver roadshow visited the Scottish Parliament on the 21st of May to call for bolder action on prevention and early detection of liver disease from the Scottish Government and Health Boards.
Over 20 MSPs were represented at the event, including the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Neil Gray, Minister for Public Health, Jenni Minto and Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy, Christina McKelvie. The event was sponsored by the Health and Social Care Committee Convenor Clare Haughey MSP. Members of the Scottish Parliament were offered a FibroScan, a non-invasive scan which is used to measure the stiffness of the liver and provides a liver health reading.
Transplant patients John and Moray spoke with MSPs to share their lived experiences of liver disease, helping to bring a human face to the statistics surrounding this condition. Dr Mathis Heydtmann and Transplant Surgeon Anja Adair and the British Liver Trust’s Chair of Trustees Alastair King also attended the roadshow.
The roadshow’s return to the Scottish Parliament builds on the momentum from its previous visit two years ago. Since 2022, the Trust has built and maintained engagement with MSPs, culminated in first debate on ‘Scotland’s Liver Cancer Crisis’ in Holyrood in June 2023. Alarmingly, liver cancer has seen the greatest increase in mortality across all cancer types over the last decade in Scotland.
Scotland has consistently had some of the worst outcomes for liver disease in Europe. Sadly, over 1,200 people died from liver disease in Scotland in 2022. The primary drivers of liver disease are alcohol misuse, overweight and obesity and viral hepatitis, with over 70% of liver disease deaths in Scotland attributable to alcohol misuse.
As part of our ‘Make Early Diagnosis of Liver Disease Routine’ campaign, we surveyed all Health Boards in Scotland in 2023. The survey monitored the progress of primary care commissioning for liver disease early detection pathways in the UK, against our original 2020 cross-sectional survey. The finding were positive, showing that Scotland increased the coverage of its primary care pathways, from 42% to 69% of health boards with comprehensive pathways of care.
Pamela Healy OBE, Chief Executive of the British Liver Trust, said:
“Scotland has made significant progress in prevention and early detection of liver disease, including the expansion of good practice pathways for earlier diagnosis by local Health since our last visit in 2022.
However, liver disease deaths are almost six times higher in our most deprived communities compared to our most affluent and liver cancer has seen the greatest increase in mortality across all cancer types over the last decade. More still needs to be done to improve early diagnosis, improve public awareness and address the stark health inequalities of liver disease.”
The Love Your Liver roadshow at Holyrood provided a great opportunity to advocate for patients and raise awareness around the risk factors for liver disease and the importance of improving prevention and early diagnosis to save lives and reduce hospitalisations in Scotland.
Following the roadshow, the British Liver Trust will continue to work with the Scottish Parliament, Government and Health Boards. We are aiming to bring a debate to the Scottish Parliament on ‘Liver disease and health inequalities in Scotland,’ and will support MSPs with speaking points in ensure the voices of liver disease and liver cancer patients are heard.
The British Liver Trust is on a mission to raise awareness of liver disease in Scotland and engage with decision makers to build meaningful touchpoints for to ensure prevention and early detection of liver disease is prioritised.
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