New figures show liver disease now affects more than a quarter of Australians.
A report commissioned by the Australian Liver Association shows the number of Australians with liver disease is expected to reach over eight million by 2030.
Of concern, however, is the report's finding that Indigenous groups and people from non-English speaking backgrounds are at a higher risk of developing liver disease.
Hannah Sinclair reports.
More than six million Australians are now affected by liver disease.
This costs the country $50.7 billion each year.
Previously usually associated with heavy drinking, it appears now the main culprit is obesity.
Commissioned by the Australian Liver Association, the report found 5.5 million Australians have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The Association's Chairperson, Associate Professor Amany Zekry says a healthy liver is vital for many functions.
"A healthy liver is a liver which works quite robustly in terms of getting rid of the toxins in the body, and making essential elements in the body. So when the liver stops doing this job, toxins accumulate in the body with really dreadful effects. The most common causes of chronic liver disease in Australia are non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, in the context of obesity, viral hepatitis from hepatitis-B or hepatitis-C infections, and alcohol-related liver disease."
The Liver Association is calling for liver disease to be recognised as a chronic condition to make it a national health priority.
In its response to the report, the Australian Medical Association says improving public perceptions about liver disease could improve treatment and prevention.
Medical Association President Dr Steve Hambleton says liver disease is preventable, and it's not only excessive drinking that causes the problem.
"Liver disease now affects more than six million Australians - that's a quarter of the population, and that's going to be a big surprise to many people. But a lot of those are actually non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. So if we're talking about the impact of obesity on our society, here's an impact. If that's untreated that can go on to cause liver cancer."
The Liver Association wants a national liver cancer screening program for the 70,000 Australians in high-risk groups.
Those high-risk groups include people living in institutinos, health-care workers and Indigenous Australians.
Associate Professor Zekry says while many things contribute to liver disease, screening would encourage early detection in Indigenous communities.
"Among them of course is obesity, or increased body mass index, which you know could be prevalent in the Indigenous population, or type two diabetes. So all these factors can contribute to progression of liver disease. A more healthy approach towards this organ and among this approach is starting to find this liver disease earlier rather than later, and intervene earlier and those will have established damage, that we implement screening program for liver cancer in this population."
The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation supports the idea of a screening process and aditional health education.
Manager of Research Professor Ngaire Brown says current programs should be enhanced to focus on liver disease.
"A public health and health promotion activity around liver disease in Aboriginal communities would be really useful, particularly as we have greater risks associated with diabetes, and some instances (not all instances) alcohol, and obesity than other members of the community."
The government's national immunisation program funds vaccination against hepatitis-A for all Indigenous children under five living in Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.
The Australian Medical Association's Steve Hambleton says the vaccination program has worked well for the hepatitis-A virus, but hepatitis-C is an ongoing problem.
"We now have active and effective treatments for many of the forms of hepatitis C but that's a very expensive thing to actually treat a disease, when we should be preventing it. And hepatitis C can be prevented by avoiding sharing of needles, and certainly intravenous drug users. It can also be transmitted sexually so there's some health education that can actually decrease the rates of hepatitis C."
Australians from a non-English speaking background may also have a higher risk of developing liver disease due to a lack of awareness.
The report shows migrants from Vietnam and China could be more at risk of hepatitus-B and primary liver cancer.
Associate Professor Zekry says more public education about liver disease is needed in some migrant communities.
"Hepatitis B again is endemic in these areas because of the vertical transmission from mother to child. But in addition to this there is strong data to show there is lack of awareness in this community about Hepatitis B and the necessity to test for Hepatitis B, to seek treatment for Hepatitis B or to be screened for liver cancer in the high-risk population."
While the number of of Australians with liver disease is expected to reach over eight million by 2030, Associate Professor Zekry is hoping the status of the disease changes as more information is made available.
"We hope that liver disease will be considered as a chronic disease and gain the same attention as other chronic diseases in Australia have gained in the past, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or obesity."
