What is the ICD?

The International Classification serves to record and report health and health-related conditions globally. ICD ensures interoperability of digital health data, and their comparability. The ICD contains diseases, disorders, health conditions and much more. The inclusion of a specific category into ICD depends on utility to the different uses of ICD and sufficient evidence that a health condition exists.  

When will ICD-11 come into effect?

The new Revision of ICD was endorsed by the World Health Assembly at the 72^nd meeting in 2019, and came into effect globally on 1 January 2022. From that date, health statistics will be reported in ICD-11.

Countries are encouraged to start implementation and reporting with ICD-11 in line with their commitment. To that end WHO’s Classifications and Terminologies Unit has developed an implementation package to make the eventual transition from the old system to the new system easier. These documents can be found on ICD-11 page and include the Transition or Implementation Guide, ICD-11 Fact Sheet, information on ICD-API web services, ICD-11 training package, ICD-11 License and more.

What if we aren’t ready by 2022?

While countries are encouraged to follow their commitment documented with their approval of ICD-11 at the World Health Assembly, there are no sanctions for late implementation. Each country has its own special environment and systems in place.