PGIMER, Chandigarh- World Liver Day is observed on 19th April every year. This all started in the year 2010 when European Association for Study of the Liver (EASL) decided to mark this day as the World Liver Day which was the day of the founding of EASL in the year 1966. The day marks an occasion to enlighten the public about the risk and causes of liver disease, its prevention, including diet and lifestyle modification and the available treatment modalities.
Typically, most of the chronic liver disease (CLD) patients do not have any specific symptoms in the initial stage of CLD and requires screening and surveillance as per their risk factors, said Prof. (Dr.) Ajay Duseja, Head of Dept of Hepatology, PGIMER Chandigarh. He said that three common causes of CLD seen in PGI are alcohol related liver disease (ALD), metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD- fatty liver disease) and chronic viral hepatitis (Hepatitis B and C Viruses). The department of Hepatology has always been in the forefront in organizing various public awareness and screening and surveillance activities. 
Transient elastography is a non-invasive modality to screen for liver fat and fibrosis (scarring) and in the past, the department has organized elastography and viral hepatitis screening activities for PGI employees, said Dr Sunil Taneja, Additional Professor, Department of Hepatology, PGIMER, Chandigarh. There are certain high-risk groups for liver disease and amongst many such groups, those who abuse alcohol and inject drugs are very common high-risk groups. 
On this world liver day, we plan to screen such patients for the presence of liver disease, said Dr Duseja. He said that, in collaboration with department of Psychiatry, patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and persons who inject drugs (PWIDs) attending the drug de-addiction and treatment centre (DDTC) at PGI will be coordinated with the department of Hepatology to screen for presence of hepatitis B and C infections and will also undergo elastography of the liver to look for liver fat and fibrosis (scarring). This activity though will start on the occasion of world liver day but will continue for next few weeks till enough of such patients have been screened, said Dr Duseja.
Every year the World Liver Day comes with a theme and this year’s theme is ‘Food is Medicine’. The theme is relevant as there is close relationship between food we consume and the risk of liver disease said Dr Madhumita Premkumar, Additional Professor, Department of Hepatology, PGIMER, Chandigarh. 
She said that food does affect the gut bacteria, which are related to the occurrence of liver disease through gut-liver axis and changing the gut health. Both quantity and quality of the food are related to the liver health by causing malnutrition including over-nutrition and under-nutrition both of which increases the risk of liver disease, said Dr Nipun Verma, Additional Professor, Dept of Hepatology PGIMER Chandigarh. 
Overnutrition, typically causes overweight and obesity and the risk of other metabolic diseases like diabetes (blood sugar), hypertension (high BP), dyslipidemia (abnormal blood lipids) and put these patients at risk of developing fatty liver disease said Dr Arka De, Associate Professor, Dept of Hepatology PGIMER Chandigarh. Thus, for a good health, it is very important to have a balanced quantity and quality of food. Diet consisting of whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables and moderate intake of dairy and carbohydrates and restricted sugar and fat intake (particularly saturated and trans fats) is considered a healthy diet for healthy liver, said Dr Naveen Bhagat, Assistant Professor, Dept of Hepatology PGIMER Chandigarh.
Most of the diseases of the liver including the three common liver diseases (ALD, fatty liver and viral hepatitis) are related to the unhealthy lifestyle and thus making people aware of a healthy lifestyle goes a long way for a healthy liver said Dr Sunil Taneja. There is a large burden of liver diseases globally and in India and there are not enough hepatologists (liver doctors) in the country to look after these patients with liver disease said Dr Madhumita Premkumar. 
Following the principle of “Prevention is better than cure’ and making efforts to prevent these diseases is thus a better strategy rather than trying to cure a large number of such patients said Dr Nipun Verma. In this direction, Indian National Association for Study of the Liver (INASL) has formed a taskforce on ‘Preventive Hepatology’ with an aim to make all sections of society aware about the preventive measures of common liver diseases, said Dr Duseja who is the national Secretary-General of INASL. He said that it is good to catch them young and thus making children and adolescents aware of preventive measures may be more fruitful. 
In its maiden attempt, INASL- Taskforce on Preventive Hepatology and department of Hepatology, PGIMER Chandigarh organized a ‘Liver Health Awareness Program’ in Delhi Public School, Chandigarh on 17th April, 2025. In the program, Mrs Reema Dewan, The Director of DPS, Chandigarh and Mohali thanked INASL and the department of Hepatology for this awareness program which was addressed to the children of class 10-12 of the school. Dr Duseja, who is also the chairperson of this national taskforce explained the children about this initiative and the need of such program. 
Dr Ajeet Bhadoria, Additional Professor, Dept of Community and Family Medicine, AIIMS, Rishikesh who is also the convener of the taskforce spoke about the causes, routes of transmission and preventive measures for viral hepatitis predominantly focusing on hepatitis A and B virus. Dr Arka De, Associate Professor, Dept of Hepatology PGIMER Chandigarh spoke about the causes and preventive measures for fatty liver disease covering both alcohol related fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and also covering the theme of world liver day i.e. ‘Food is Medicine’.
 Even though good quality and quantity of food is so important for good liver health, in certain areas accessibility and affordability to good quality food may be a challenge, said Dr Naveen Bhagat, Assistant Professor, Dept of Hepatology PGIMER Chandigarh. The awareness program was attended by around 500 persons including the students, teachers and staff of DPS, Chandigarh.
The department of Hepatology will continue to organize such awareness and screening programs for the better liver health of the community.