This week, Joel James MS, as Chairman of the Cross Party Group on Liver Disease and Liver Cancer, hosted an Annual General Meeting, where the increased dangers that obesity poses were discussed.
Policy solutions to tackle the obesity crisis and rise in fatty liver disease in Wales were also discussed by Joel, Health and Social Care Committee Chair Russell George MS, Equality and Social Justice Committee Chair Jenny Rathbone MS and Mathew Norman Deputy Director of Diabetes UK Cymru.
Obesity costs the Welsh economy an estimated £3bn per year and is exacerbating huge avoidable pressures on the NHS. Fatty liver disease diagnoses have increased 20-fold in the last two decades between 2002 and 2022. This has contributed to an alarming 23% increase in liver disease mortality rates in 2019-21.
The event held a balanced and wide-ranging debate which focused on policy solutions from prevention to earlier detection, mediating industry and public health perspectives.
Speaking after the meeting, Joel said:
As Chairman of the Cross Party Group on Liver Disease & Liver Cancer in the Welsh Parliament, it was great to hold our Annual General Meeting this week - where we talked about the increased dangers that obesity poses.
Really grateful to Russell George MS, Jenny Rathbone and Mathew Norman from Diabetes UK Cymru for contributing to our discussion and for Sarah Murphy MS and Heledd Fychan MS for attending.
