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  • Perspective
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Public health policies to prevent alcohol-related liver disease

Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 22, pages 587–594 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is a major cause of morbidity and premature mortality around the world, with a substantial cost to individuals and to health-care systems. The incidence of ALD is closely associated with alcohol intake, and it is a preventable disease. There is clear evidence that public health measures to reduce alcohol consumption are effective, which in turn can have a positive effect on ALD. Effective policy includes controlling the price of alcohol, limiting or banning alcohol advertising and restricting the availability of alcohol. The strength of public health policy depends on the political willingness to develop robust strategies. However, effective lobbying of policy-makers by the alcohol industry and lack of political will are barriers to the implementation of these measures, resulting in suboptimal national alcohol control policies. Clinicians are well-placed to campaign for effective public health policy regarding alcohol to reduce the prevalence of ALD for the benefit of patients, their families and wider society. In this Perspective, we summarize the evidence for public health policies that affect alcohol consumption and the prevalence of ALD.

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Fig. 1: Integrated aspects of alcohol-related health policy to reduce or eliminate alcohol-related liver disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leeds Liver Unit, St James’s University Hospital, Leeds, UK

    Richard Parker

  2. Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Internal Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA

    Juan P. Arab

  3. Departamento de Gastroenterologia, Escuela de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Juan P. Arab

  4. CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), New York, NY, USA

    Jeffrey V. Lazarus

  5. Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain

    Jeffrey V. Lazarus

  6. Liver Unit, Hospital Clinic, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain

    Ramon Bataller

  7. Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USA

    Ashwani K. Singal

  8. UofL Health Jewish Hospital and Trager Transplant Center, Louisville, KY, USA

    Ashwani K. Singal

  9. Rob Rexley VA Medical Center, Louisville, KY, USA

    Ashwani K. Singal

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R.P., J.P.A., J.V.L. and A.K.S. researched data for the article, made a substantial contribution to discussion of content, wrote the article and reviewed/edited the manuscript before submission. R.B. made a substantial contribution to discussion of content.

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R.P. has received fees for speaking from Norgine and Orphalan, support to attend scientific meetings from Orphalan, and consulting fees from Durect Corporation and Novo Nordisk. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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Parker, R., Arab, J.P., Lazarus, J.V. et al. Public health policies to prevent alcohol-related liver disease. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 22, 587–594 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-025-01084-6

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