Classifications

Updating process

The International Conference for the Tenth Revision of the ICD held in Geneva from 26 September to 2 October 1989 recommended that "…WHO should endorse the concept of an updating process between revisions and give consideration as to how an effective updating mechanism could be put in place".

The three volumes of ICD-10 were published between 1992 and 1994 and came into use in WHO Member States as from 1995.

Although the first updates to the classification were approved at the annual meeting of WHO Collaborating Centres for the Family of International Classifications in Tokyo, Japan in 1996, the current formal mechanisms to guide the updating process were not established until later.

Two separate bodies were established to manage the updating process: the Mortality Reference Group (MRG) and the Updating and Revision Committee (URC).

The concept for the MRG was developed in 1997, and it began making decisions regarding the application and interpretation of ICD for mortality in 1998. The MRG also makes recommendations on proposed ICD updates to the URC.

The URC was established in 2000 and receives proposals from the MRG and members through the WHO Collaborating Centres for the Family of International Classifications. The URC considers the proposals and submits recommendations on proposed updates to the Heads of Collaborating Centres who, in turn, make recommendations to WHO.

SEE ALSO

ICD Revision

WHO-FIC Network Meeting 2011

SNOMED-CT to ICD-10 Maps Preview Release

The World Health Organization and The International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization (IHTSDO) are pleased to announce that a preview release of SNOMED CT to ICD-10 cross maps is now available

ICD-10 ONLINE

ICF ONLINE

International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

HISTORY OF UPDATES

ANNOUNCEMENT

1 July 2011 - The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), in its role as the Australian Collaborating Centre for the WHO’s Family of International Classifications, hosted Towards ICD-11 for Australia to announce the World Health Organization's (WHO) development process for the International Classification of Diseases 11th revision (ICD-11).

ANNOUNCEMENT

22 July 2010 - WHO and the International Health Terminology Standard Development Organisation (IHTSDO) have worked on a collaborative arrangement to link the WHO Family of Classifications and the Standardized Nomenclature of Medicine - Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT). This arrangement enables the linkage of terminologies and classifications. In the era of computerization of health information and electronic health records, it represents a major achievement.

Internal Medicine TAG – Hepato-pancreatobiliary Workgroup Co-Chair Dr Emmet B. Keeffe dies

April 12, 1942 – August 8, 2011 Dr Emmet B. Keeffe, co-chair of the hepato-pancreatobiliary working group of the International Classification of Diseases revision, passed away unexpectedly on August 8, 2011 at the age of sixty-nine. In addition to being an active chair in the ICD revision, Dr Keeffe was a former president of the American Gastroenterological Association and Professor of Medicine Emeritus in Hepatology at Stanford University. Dr Keeffe published more than 700 journal articles and book chapters, largely focusing on his clinical research interest: treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C. His full biography can be read online. We will miss his contributions to medicine and science, particularly in his work towards revising the International Classification of Diseases. We are all saddened by his death – which will unfortunately be coded in ICD-10. On behalf of WHO and ICD revision, we extend our sympathies to his family, friends and colleagues.