Event highlights
WHO/Europe at the 2026 EASL Congress: connecting liver health, alcohol prevention and public health action
What does liver health have to do with alcohol, nutrition, physical activity, hepatitis and public policy?
At EASL Congress 2026 in Barcelona, WHO/Europe and EASL brought these issues together through the Love Your Liver initiative, demonstrating how preventing liver disease requires action far beyond and before the clinic. From public education on healthy behaviours and free health checks to professional training and policy discussions, the Congress showcased a more integrated approach to prevention and liver health.
What began in 2022 as a liver health outreach initiative has steadily evolved into a broader platform for prevention and health promotion. While liver testing remains at its core, the initiative increasingly addresses the behavioural and social determinants that shape liver health, including alcohol use, nutrition, physical activity and viral hepatitis. By 2025, the initiative had delivered over 2300 free transient elastography tests (a test to measure the stiffness of liver tissue and build-up of fat around the organ) and 150 hepatitis C tests, engaged more than 670 school children across 15 schools in 8 European cities, involved dozens of partner organizations and volunteers and generated extensive media coverage. Public demand reached a record at last year’s EASL Congress in Amsterdam, where more than 845 free liver tests were provided.
It takes a village to fight noncommunicable diseases: the Love your Liver village in Barcelona
At this year’s EASL Congress in Barcelona, more than 500 people received transient elastography tests and over 60 hepatitis C tests were done, but the concept moved beyond “liver testing” and offered a public health education area alongside the testing. Visitors moved through a prevention "village", encountering multiple opportunities to learn about health, assess their risks and engage with health professionals. Rather than focusing on a single disease or risk factor, the village brought together information on liver health, alcohol, nutrition, physical activity, viral hepatitis and sexual health in one accessible public space. A particular focus for WHO/Europe was increasing awareness of alcohol-related harm, including liver disease and several types of cancer.
The initiative was supported by WHO/Europe and public health partners in Catalonia, Spain, including the Public Health Agency of Catalonia through its Subdirectorate General of Addictions, HIV, STIs and Viral Hepatitis, which hosts the WHO Collaborating Centre on Substance Use, Noncommunicable Disease and Policy Impact, and the Secretariat for Public Health of the Government of Catalonia. It was delivered with the help of 45 volunteers, including 29 nurses and physicians, alongside health promotion volunteers from local patient organizations involved with liver-related issues.
For WHO/Europe, a key strength of the village was placing alcohol within a broader, integrated prevention framework, reflecting that liver disease, like many noncommunicable diseases, is shaped by multiple interacting behavioural, metabolic and other health determinants rather than a single factor.
Strengthening alcohol prevention through continuing SBI education
Raising awareness is only one part of prevention. Equally important is ensuring that health professionals have the skills and confidence to identify risks early and support healthier behaviours. Collaboration between WHO/Europe and EASL has increasingly focused on alcohol prevention, policies and building capacity in the area of screening and brief interventions (SBI). For the second year running, WHO/Europe delivered alcohol SBI training at the EASL Congress, strengthening the confidence and skills of about 150 health professionals in addressing alcohol use in routine care. Brief interventions support healthier behaviours across multiple risk factors, including alcohol, tobacco, physical inactivity and unhealthy eating, and can prevent serious health and social harms from developing. When scaled up, they translate into meaningful health gains at the population level. Yet uptake remains limited in the WHO European Region, underscoring the need to continue building capacity and implementation.
From public engagement to policy
The same prevention themes visible in the Love Your Liver village were reflected inside the Congress itself.
Discussions moved from individual risk factors and behaviour change to the policies needed to create healthier environments and reduce preventable liver disease at population level. Rather than treating liver health in a siloed, clinical way, sessions covered alcohol policy, population-level measures, implementation challenges and broader public health action.
A key highlight was the reconvening of the European Health Alliance on Alcohol, showcasing the increasing engagement of the medical community in advancing evidence-informed alcohol policies across Europe. Alongside WHO/Europe, representatives from Spain’s Ministry of Health and the European Society of Cardiology highlighted the scale of alcohol-related harm, the contribution of clinical and economic evidence to policy development, and the relevance of alcohol control measures across all medical specialties, including cardiovascular health.
WHO/Europe contributed to discussions on the Second EASL-Lancet Commission on Sustainable Liver Health in Europe, which underscored that a substantial share of liver disease is preventable. Lessons learned from tobacco control and their relevance for alcohol policy and liver health were shared in a dedicated session. The relevance of prevention and upstream policies were discussed in an EASL Studio panel, EASL’s digital broadcast format for expert interviews, debates and roundtables on hepatology and related public health issues – focused on how to move from evidence to action.
Finally, WHO took the stage in a session on metabolic dysfunction and alcohol-associated liver disease (MetALD), highlighting how recent innovations in alcohol product design are outpacing alcohol policy and may increase the risk of MetALD, particularly among young people.
Together, these activities illustrated a common message: preventing liver disease cannot rely on clinical treatment alone. It requires informed communities, trained health professionals and evidence-based policies that address the factors driving harm.
The growing collaboration between EASL and WHO/Europe reflects an increasing recognition that liver health is not only a clinical issue, but a public health opportunity.
Event notice
As its collaboration with the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) continues to grow, WHO/Europe will actively contribute to several sessions at the EASL Congress 2026, taking place on 27–30 May 2026 in Barcelona, Spain.
Building on its strong engagement with screening and brief intervention (SBI) training at the 2025 EASL Congress, WHO/Europe will again deliver SBI training to equip health-care professionals to talk about alcohol use in routine care and provide brief, evidence-based support. Additionally, WHO/Europe will contribute to EASL’s “Love Your Liver” public awareness activities, supporting SBI implementation within the event’s outreach activities.
WHO/Europe will also participate in the EASL Studio event dedicated to the Second Report of the EASL–Lancet Commission on Sustainable Liver Health in Europe, which will examine progress since the Commission’s first report and discuss priorities for advancing liver health across the WHO European Region. During this session, WHO/Europe will highlight policy lessons for strengthening alcohol control and supporting the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations.
A central moment of WHO/Europe’s engagement will be the reconvening of the European Health Alliance on Alcohol (EHAA), launched at the EASL Congress in 2025, which brings together over 25 European medical societies and health professional organizations committed to advancing evidence-based alcohol policy. The Congress provides an important opportunity for EHAA members to meet in person and strengthen collaboration across clinical, research and policy communities. This year’s EHAA session, “Alcohol and the liver: turning clinical evidence into policy action”, will examine how clinical and economic evidence can inform policy responses to alcohol harm in the European Region. The session will highlight the EHAA’s role in bridging science and policy-making and supporting Member States in advancing effective alcohol policies. WHO/Europe will join representatives from the Ministry of Health of Spain and the European Society of Cardiology to discuss the health and economic case for stronger alcohol prevention policies, reflecting the EHAA’s multidisciplinary engagement and the relevance of prevention to the forthcoming European Union Safe Hearts Plan.