Experts urge Mexico to integrate liver disease into chronic care

Liver disease may affect close to half of adults in Mexico, yet the country tracks it far less closely than the diabetes and obesity to which it is linked, according to a new paper by Jeffrey Lazarus, professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy Professor (CUNY SPH), and colleagues, and released to coincide with the International Congress on Obesity taking place in Mexico City this week. The authors argue Mexico should fold liver health into its existing programs for diabetes, obesity, and other noncommunicable diseases rather than treating it as a separate problem.

Published in Archives of Medical Research, the review pulls together evidence on the prevalence of metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in Mexico and the country's capacity to address it. Liver disease is already the fifth leading cause of death in the country, with more than 19,000 deaths recorded in the first half of 2025 alone.

MASLD occurs when fat builds up in the liver alongside cardiometabolic risk factors such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, which affect an estimated 39% and 16.4% of Mexican adults, respectively. A multicenter screening study across five states found that 47% of participants met the criteria for the condition, and it is now the leading cause of cirrhosis at Mexican referral centers, accounting for 42.8% of cases between 2018 and 2024. About one in five people with MASLD develop a progressive inflammatory form, known as MASH, that can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

"Treating these diseases separately misses a major opportunity to define and implement a much more cohesive and effective public health response that improves prevention, early diagnosis, and equitable care," says Lazarus.

The review points to practical steps: adding simple blood-based liver screening to existing diabetes and obesity care, expanding public-sector access to non-invasive diagnostic tools, and building liver measures into ENSANUT, Mexico's national health and nutrition survey, which already collects the underlying data but does not assess liver risk. The case for earlier detection has sharpened now that the first treatment for MASH has reached the market, since screening does more when a diagnosis can lead to care.