• The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has launched the operational guidelines for integration of NAFLD (Non-Alcoholic Fatty           Liver Disease) with NPCDCS (National          Programme for Prevention & Control of                 Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke).

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• The NPCDCS is being implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM).
• It was launched in 2010 to prevent and control Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
• It is the abnormal accumulation of fat in the liver in the absence of secondary causes of fatty liver, such as harmful alcohol use, viral hepatitis.
• Fatty liver occurs when too much fat builds up in liver cells.
• It is a serious health concern as it encompasses a spectrum of liver abnormalities, from a simple non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL, simple fatty liver disease) to more advanced ones like non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and even liver cancer.
• Steatohepatitis is characterized by inflammation of the liver with concurrent fat accumulation in the liver. Mere deposition of fat in the liver is termed steatosis.
• Cirrhosis is a complication of liver disease that involves loss of liver cells and irreversible scarring of the liver.
• NAFLD acts as an independent predictor of future risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic syndromes like hypertension, abdominal obesity, dyslipidaemia, glucose intolerance
• NAFLD is emerging as an important cause of liver disease in India.
• Epidemiological studies suggest the prevalence of NAFLD is around 9% to 32% of the general population in India with a higher prevalence in those with overweight or obesity and those with diabetes or prediabetes.
• Researchers have found NAFLD in 40% to 80 % of people who have type 2 diabetes and in 30% to 90% of people who are obese.