Latest figures have revealed huge variations in liver disease across England with rates four times higher for men in some local authority areas compared with others.
Published by Public Health England, they show that in Blackpool and Manchester deaths relating to liver disease among the under 75s are more than double the national average.
They also highlight health inequalities within regions. In London, death rates in Camden and Hammersmith & Fulham are more than double that of Barnet.
And hospital admission rates for liver disease in Bath and North East Somerset are half that of neighbouring Bristol.
Professor Julia Verne, lead for liver disease at Public Health England, said: ‘Liver disease is a public health priority because young lives are being needlessly lost. All the preventable causes are on the rise, but alcohol accounts for 37% of liver disease deaths. We must do more to raise awareness, nationally and locally, and this is why it is so important for the public and health professionals to understand their local picture.’
Liver disease is the only cause of major cause of death that is rising in England and decreasing in the rest of Europe and it accounts for one in ten of people who die in their 40s.
Andrew Langford, chief executive of The British Liver Trust, said: ‘The British Liver Trust is delighted with the level of detail provided within these profiles: they provide invaluable evidence as to how local authorities, CCGs, public health professionals and the NHS can improve upon and increase prevention, early diagnosis and more timely care and treatment.
‘These profiles, which were urgently needed, will begin to address the devastating rise of poor liver health throughout the country and reduce unnecessary deaths of increasingly younger people from liver disease.’
