Institute Director Joins Panel Discussion at UN General Assembly Event Held by The Economist Events

Photo credit: Fatty Liver Alliance

Director Arun Sanyal, M.D., stressed the need for early intervention in treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease at a presentation designed to raise awareness of this global public health threat among leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly.

The event, held Sept. 23, was supported by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and hosted by Economist Impact. In a panel discussion, Sanyal and colleagues explored the critical public health threats posed by MASLD and MASH, diseases that affect one in three adults worldwide. It brought together senior stakeholders to discuss the future outlook and policies required to reduce the environmental, social, economic, and human contributors to these diseases.

“We need preventative approaches that allow us to intervene while the person is metabolically impacted but the organs are still intact,” Sanyal told the gathering. “We are not going to transplant our way out of this… there is a very compelling economic argument to earlier intervention.”

According to a 2021 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, health leaders should prioritize integrating MASLD into policies regarding other major non-communicable diseases, such as obesity and diabetes.

“MASLD imposes an enormous burden on patients, the health sector and the wider economy. In America alone, it is estimated to cause direct medical costs of over $100 (billion) a year,” a burden that will only increase without a major change in health policies, according to the Economist Impact.

Different care pathways will need to be adapted in different parts of the world, Sanyal noted. “We need simple tools that are implementable, that won’t break the bank and develop therapeutics that impact multiple diseases.”

Panelist addressed topics including:

• The social and economic consequences of not addressing MASLD and MASH on societal and economic levels
• Raising awareness to encourage more action by governments, healthcare providers and civil society
• Building a cohesive community of practice
• Policy development of proposals to reduce the environmental, social, economic, and human contributors to MASLD

In addition to Dr. Sanyal, panelists included Christoph Benn, director, JLI Center for Global Health Diplomacy, Joep Lange Institute; Jeffrey V. Lazarus, head of the public health liver group, ISGLOBAL; professor of global health, CUNY; and chair of the Healthy Livers Healthy Lives coalition; and Joanna Ralston, CEO, World Obesity Federation. It was moderated by Elly Vaughan, a senior global health policy manager with Economist Impact.