Developing the new International Classification of Diseases (ICD), 11th Edition
Japan hosted two major meetings in Tokyo on 12 to 15 October 2016: a) Tokyo conference on the 11th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, or ICD-11, and b) a meeting of the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC) Network. At the ICD 11 Revision Conference, the Director, WHO Kobe Centre, presented on strategies to increase the integration of the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) with the ICD 11, as well as with other indicator sets, to help monitor the functioning and health status of older persons.
The WHO Director-General addressed the Conference noting its importance and that “this is an historical occasion and an historical opportunity to give the medical, epidemiological, and public health communities a cutting-edge statistical tool. Specific, precise, and comparable data are the foundation of everything we do”
The importance of the ICD11 and International Classifications
The ICD has existed for 100-years as a standard statistical instrument, that contains many standard definitions for diseases and codes. The ICD is instrumental to support countries, as the coding is used as the basis for national civil and vital statistics registration, and health information systems. The ICD 11 will be necessary for countries to be able to gather high-quality, specific, and comparable statistical data, and cause-specific mortality data (which are used by countries to track SDG targets and indicators). It is also needed for electronic health records; statistical purposes (it groups together medical terms reported by physicians, medical examiners, and coroners on death certificates); and serves as the international standard diagnostic classification for all general epidemiological and many health management purposes, including reimbursements by governments and insurers.
Until now, classifications and indicators for monitoring the functioning of older persons and persons with disabilities have been missing. The ICF has not been used extensively. Many countries are also concerned about not having the capacity to implement various standards and indicators, for which there are many.
The Director, WHO Kobe Centre, outlined a number of key issues and recommendations that can help align various indicators and standards, particularly focusing on functional status. The further development of the ICD 11 is led by WHOs Department of Information, Evidence and Research (IER). Within WHO, WKC is collaborating with the IER Department, the Blindness, Deafness Prevention, Disability and Rehabilitation Team in the Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Cluster, and the Ageing and Life Course Department on ways to better define indicators for ageing populations, universal health coverage (UHC), age and dementia friendly initiatives, and related metrics.