Liver disease remains one of Europe's most overlooked public health challenges. Millions of Europeans live with liver conditions that often develop silently, with symptoms appearing only when the disease has reached an advanced stage. Despite significant scientific progress and the availability of effective prevention and screening tools, late diagnosis, low health literacy, persistent stigma, and unequal access to healthcare continue to undermine outcomes across the continent.
To address this gap between knowledge and action, the European Liver Patients' Association (ELPA) launched the ELPA Liver Screening Tour—an ambitious initiative designed to bring liver health directly to citizens. Travelling across Europe and engaging communities in Greece, France, Cyprus, and Germany, with upcoming stops in the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Italy, the tour is creating new momentum for prevention, awareness, and early detection.
Liver health beyond traditional healthcare settings
The ELPA Screening Tour was created to bring liver health awareness, prevention and early detection directly into communities. Through mobile screening units, public events, educational activities and partnerships with healthcare professionals, policymakers and patient organisations, the initiative transforms public spaces into accessible health hubs, making prevention and screening more visible and easier to access for citizens.
More than a screening programme, the tour seeks to increase understanding of liver disease risk factors, encourage earlier engagement with healthcare services, and strengthen local advocacy for liver health. It also supports ELPA's national member organisations by enhancing their capacity to deliver awareness activities and advocate for improved prevention policies in their countries.
The initiative transforms public spaces into accessible health hubs, making prevention and screening more visible and easier to access for citizens
At each stop, healthcare professionals, patient advocates, policymakers, and volunteers engage directly with citizens, providing information and screening opportunities. This collaborative approach helps foster meaningful dialogue about liver health while increasing its visibility at both the local and national levels.
The initiative's impact is already evident. To date, more than 1,000 people have been screened across Europe, highlighting both the demand for accessible prevention services and the importance of taking health initiatives beyond traditional healthcare settings.
From screening tour to prevention village
While the Screening Tour brings liver health into communities across Europe, ELPA has also created a flagship public engagement initiative at the heart of European policymaking: the Liver Disease Prevention Village.
Located on the Esplanade of the European Parliament in Brussels, the Village was designed around a powerful message: Protect Liver Health, Protect Public Health. Rather than focusing solely on liver disease, the initiative highlights the close links between liver health and major non-communicable diseases, including cancer, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and viral hepatitis.
The Village offers visitors an interactive journey through prevention. Participants move through a series of stations covering liver screening, body composition assessment, diabetes prevention, cardiovascular disease prevention, cancer prevention, and hepatitis testing. Each station illustrates how different aspects of health are interconnected and how prevention strategies work best when they address the whole person rather than individual diseases in isolation.
The Village was designed around a powerful message: Protect Liver Health, Protect Public Health
Led by ELPA and developed in collaboration with partners including Liver4Life, IDF Europe, Cancer Patients Europe, Federación Española del Hígado, and SOS Hépatites Champagne-Ardenne, the initiative demonstrates the power of cross-sector cooperation in tackling Europe's growing burden of chronic disease.
Liver health as a public health priority
The Prevention Village goes beyond awareness raising. It creates a unique space where patients, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and citizens can interact directly around prevention, early detection, screening, and health literacy. By offering practical guidance and simple health checks, it encourages people to take an active role in protecting their health while helping to reduce stigma surrounding liver disease.
This approach reflects a broader reality facing Europe today. Liver disease is closely linked to some of the continent's most pressing health challenges, including metabolic disorders, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Addressing liver disease, therefore, requires integrated, citizen-centered approaches that connect science, policy, and communities.
This integrated approach is increasingly reflected in the public health agenda. Shortly before the Liver Disease Prevention Village, WHO Member States adopted a landmark resolution on reducing the burden of liver disease, recognising the importance of liver health within the wider non-communicable disease (NCD) agenda. The resolution also provided important momentum for ongoing efforts by ELPA and its partners to ensure that MASLD and liver health are recognised within broader cardiovascular and metabolic health strategies, including the forthcoming European Cardiovascular Health Plan. At the European Union level, initiatives such as Europe's Beating Cancer Plan have demonstrated the value of investing in prevention, early detection and health literacy, while the forthcoming European Cardiovascular Health Plan is expected to place similar emphasis on reducing the burden of chronic disease through prevention and risk-factor management. As liver health is closely interconnected with cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, strengthening liver disease prevention can contribute directly to achieving the broader objectives of these EU health strategies.
Looking ahead
ELPA's initiatives demonstrate that patient organisations can act as powerful catalysts for public health innovation, translating scientific evidence into practical action and ensuring that prevention reaches citizens where they live, work, and interact.
ELPA's message is clear: liver health is an unmissable piece of public health
As the ELPA Liver Screening Tour continues to the Netherlands, Italy, and Slovenia, it is building a growing network of communities, healthcare professionals, and policymakers committed to prevention and early detection.
Together, the Screening Tour and the Liver Disease Prevention Village are practical demonstrations of how prevention can be brought closer to citizens, how patient voices can strengthen public health action, and how communities can become active partners in improving health outcomes.
At a time when Europe is seeking effective strategies to tackle the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, ELPA's message is clear: liver health is an unmissable piece of public health. Building momentum for liver health today means creating healthier communities for tomorrow.
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