One in three Indians affected by fatty liver disease: Dr Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, July 05: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, a nationally renowned diabetologist, and a Union Minister said that every third Indian has fatty liver disease, a condition that often precedes Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders.

Speaking at the launch of the Indo-French Liver and Metabolic Disease Network (InFLiMeN) at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi, Dr Singh emphasized the urgent need for preventive and curative measures for metabolic liver diseases.

The Indo-French Node, InFLiMeN, aims to address key issues related to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common metabolic liver disorder that can progress to cirrhosis and primary liver cancer. "NAFLD predates diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and many other conditions. As an endocrinologist, I understand the complexities of fatty liver and its relation to diabetes and other metabolic disorders," Dr. Singh stated.

Dr. Singh, who holds multiple key positions including Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, highlighted the significant rise in NAFLD in both the Indian subcontinent and Europe, attributing it to lifestyle changes, diet, and metabolic syndromes such as diabetes and obesity. He noted that nearly one in three Indians has fatty liver, and unlike in the West where NAFLD is mostly associated with obesity, about 20% of NAFLD cases in India occur in non-obese individuals.

The Minister underscored the importance of this initiative by pointing out the considerable burden of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) in both India and France. "Both NAFLD and ALD exhibit a similar progression from steatosis to steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)," he explained.

Reflecting on India's progress in the healthcare sector over the past decade, Dr Singh said, "India has become a global leader not just in curative healthcare but also in preventive healthcare." He emphasized the need for developing simple, low-cost diagnostic tests for detecting different stages of fatty liver and their progression to severe diseases. These diagnostic approaches and algorithms should be affordable and tailored to the Indian context.

Dr. Singh advocated for a joint multi-disciplinary collaborative program like InFLiMeN to understand the development, progression, and management of liver diseases using a comprehensive omics approach for biomarker discovery. He stressed the importance of cooperation between the government and private sector to provide the best services to citizens and promote a healthy lifestyle.

"A large population in India is affected by metabolic disorders, and we need India-specific interventions as our phenotype is different. We need Indian solutions for Indian problems," he asserted.

The Minister called for generous funding for cutting-edge science and expressed his belief that the virtual node would soon become a real node. He assured full support from his departments to the initiative and appreciated the efforts of Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, DST, and the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPERA) for their novel approach proposed by ILBS.

Dr. Singh congratulated Dr. Shiv Kumar Sarin and his team, along with their French collaborators, urging them to find low-cost, high-output remedies for metabolic disorders. The InFLiMeN initiative involves 11 French and 17 Indian doctors working together to combat liver diseases.