Prevention in liver disease

Prevention has become an important component of medical therapy for a varie ty of diseases. Preventive strategies in liver disease are relatively under developed and have focused mainly on specific complications of chronic live r disease and vaccination for viral hepatitis. Although public health initi atives designed to prevent certain forms of liver disease are in place, the y seem to be underutilized and their utility has not been evaluated. The de velopment of a comprehensive approach using public health initiatives in co njunction with strategies by health care providers is important because of the potential for decreasing the human and health care costs associated wit h hepatic dysfunction. This article reviews the available literature regard ing prevention for health care providers, includes a summary of ongoing pub lic health initiatives, and suggests an approach to prevention in liver dis ease. It is intended to raise awareness and encourage implementation of pre ventive strategies in hepatology.