Dr. Jitendra Singh Launches InFLiMeN Network to Combat Fatty Liver Disease

Highlighting India's progress in healthcare over the last decade, Dr. Singh noted that India has become a global leader in both curative and preventive healthcare.

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, a nationally renowned Diabetologist, has announced that every third Indian has fatty liver, a condition that often precedes Type 2 Diabetes and other metabolic disorders. Dr. Singh launched the Indo-French Liver and Metabolic Disease Network (InFLiMeN) today at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi. This virtual node aims to prevent and cure metabolic liver diseases.

During the launch, Dr. Singh emphasized that InFLiMeN addresses key issues related to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common metabolic liver disorder that can progress to cirrhosis and primary liver cancer. He highlighted the connection between NAFLD and other diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, noting that lifestyle changes and metabolic syndromes have significantly increased the prevalence of NAFLD in both India and Europe. Interestingly, in the Indian subcontinent, NAFLD affects about 20% of non-obese patients, unlike in the West where it is mostly associated with obesity.

Dr. Singh, along with Dr. Shiv Kumar Sarin, Director ILBS, and Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary DST, underscored the need for collaborative efforts between India and France to tackle both NAFLD and alcoholic liver disease (ALD). He pointed out the similar progression patterns of NAFLD and ALD, from steatosis to steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Highlighting India's progress in healthcare over the last decade, Dr. Singh noted that India has become a global leader in both curative and preventive healthcare. He stressed the urgent need for simple, low-cost diagnostic tests to detect various stages of fatty liver disease and their progression. These tests should be affordable, accessible, and tailored to the Indian context.

Dr. Singh called for a joint multi-disciplinary collaborative program like InFLiMeN to understand the development, progression, and management of liver diseases using comprehensive omics approaches for biomarker discovery. He emphasized the importance of cooperation between the government and the private sector to provide the best services and promote healthy living.

The Minister also highlighted the government's initiatives and policies aimed at improving the healthcare system, noting that a large population in India is affected by metabolic disorders and requires India-specific interventions. He stressed the need for generous funding for cutting-edge science and expressed his belief that the virtual node would become a real node soon. He assured support from his departments and appreciated the efforts of Prof. Abhay Karandikar and the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPERA) for their novel approach.

Dr. Singh congratulated Dr. Shiv Kumar Sarin and his team, along with the French collaborators, and directed them to find cost-effective and high-output remedies for metabolic disorders. The InFLiMeN node will see the joint efforts of 11 French and 17 Indian doctors working together to combat metabolic liver diseases.  4o  In