Context: Recently, Union Health Minister said that India has become the first country in the world to identify the need for action for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

• He also launched the Operational Guidelines for integration of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).

Background

• The Government of India is of the view that existing NPCDCS programme strategies can easily be aligned to prevent NAFLD through lifestyle changes, early diagnosis etc.
• The government has identified doable actions with main focus on health promotion and prevention of common NCDs which would also specifically cater to the identified needs of NAFLD.

About Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

• It is the abnormal accumulation of fat in the liver in the absence of secondary causes of fatty liver, such as harmful alcohol use, viral hepatitis, or medications.
• It is a serious health concern as it encompasses a spectrum of liver abnormalities, from a simple non-alcoholic fatty liver to more advanced ones like non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis etc.
• It is an independent predictor of future risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic syndromes.

Key Highlights on NAFLD

• Globally, NASH has caused 40 lakh prevalent cases of compensated cirrhosis in 1990, which increased to 94 lakh cases in 2017.
• The importance of tackling NAFLD is a key driver tackling the country’s burden of non-communicable diseases.
• The epidemiological studies suggest the prevalence of NAFLD is around 9% to 32% of the general population in India with a higher prevalence in those with overweight or obesity and those with diabetes or pre-diabetes.
• The Researchers have found NAFLD in 40% to 80 % of people who have type-2 diabetes and in 30% to 90% of people who are obese.
• The studies have also suggested that people with NAFLD have a greater chance of developing cardiovascular disease.
• The cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in NAFLD.

Proposal of Government to tackle NAFLD
The Government of India has realized that the existing NCD programme’s strategies can now be aligned to achieve the objectives to prevent and control NAFLD with:

• Behavior and lifestyle changes;
• Early diagnosis and management of NAFLD; and
• Building of capacity at various levels of healthcare for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of NAFLD
• The government has stated that along with the focus of ''Eat Right India'' and ''Fit India Movement'', the entire vision of the government is to move from Diagnostic Cure to Preventive Health.