Health: Liver Disease

Baroness Wheeler Excerpts

Tuesday 6th May 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wheeler (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

I was up three times before.

[Noble Lords]

Front Bench.

[Baroness Wheeler]

My Lords, I, too, pay tribute to Elena Baltacha, who was a truly remarkable and very brave woman. One in five people in the UK is at serious risk of liver damage, but a recent government response shows that the Secretary of State has not met any external organisations to discuss liver disease since May 2010, and current Ministers have not met representatives of people living with liver disease since September 2012. Can the Minister commit urgently to remedying this situation, particularly as it is in such stark contrast to the 130-plus meetings the Government have had with the drinks industry?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, liver disease is very much in the sights of my honourable friend the Minister for Public Health, as is evidenced by the document we published last week, Living Well for Longer, in which there is a whole section on alcohol and liver disease, and by what NHS England and Public Health England are doing to tackle them.