Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Health for taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, on whom I call to consider introducing fibroscans to improve the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD. Ireland is facing an epidemic of liver disease. NAFLD is driven by obesity and diets that are high in fat, sugar and salt. Sadly, many are unaware of the risk such diets pose to their health. NAFLD can be managed and prevented from developing, once detected. In the vast majority of instances it is currently not detectable by a routine liver test - generally a blood test. Fibroscans can accurately diagnose the condition in a timely manner. A fibroscan is quick, simple, pain free and non-invasive. If fibroscans were introduced, they would help to address the under-diagnosis of NAFLD. Non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis, NASH, is the more aggressive form that emerges if NAFLD is left untreated. It is a silent epidemic and as many as 80% of people with NAFLD are not diagnosed routinely. Fibroscans are relatively inexpensive and can be performed by GPs. It would make great sense to introduce them, given the incidence of obesity in the country.

Professor Suzanne Norris is a specialist in the area. She has said: "In my lifetime there will be a tsunami of liver disease in Ireland." It is only in recent times that it has been realised liver disease is caused by a diet high in fat, sugar and salt, rather than alcohol. Up until now it was predominantly suffered by males an alcohol-related but now it is presenting in a large volume of younger people and many females.I will be very interested in the Minister of State's response because this makes a lot of sense.