The European Association for the Study of the Liver estimates that approximately 29 million people in the European Union suffer from a chronic liver condition31 and that mortality attributable to liver diseases has risen four-fold between 1970 and 201332.
Data suggests that cirrhosis, causes an estimated 170,000 deaths per year in Europe31. There are large intra-European variations, for example about 0.1% of Hungarian males die of cirrhosis every year, compared with 0.001% of Greek females31. Hepatitis comprises a number of variants, and in Europe hepatitis B is estimated to affect 0.5-0.7% of the population and hepatitis C 0.13-3.26%31.
Liver cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer-related deaths globally, and the 14th most prevalent in Europe33-35. It accounts for 782,000 deaths worldwide33-35 (47,000 deaths in Europe)31. 90-95% of patients with hepatic carcinoma have underlying cirrhosis33.
