• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released the 2025 edition of the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11).

• The update includes a new module covering traditional medicine conditions of Ayurveda and related traditional medicine systems, including Siddha and Unani, will enable systematic tracking of traditional medicine services, enhancing global research, reporting and evidence-based policymaking.

• ICD-11 enhances global health communication by providing a standardised classification and terminology for seamless integration across health information systems, languages and settings.

What is ICD?

• The International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) is a classification system developed and copyrighted by the WHO. 

• It is a tool that standardises the language used by health professionals worldwide in diagnosing, reporting and monitoring diseases, injuries and causes of death.

• ICD serves as the foundation for identifying health trends and statistics worldwide. 

• The tenth version (ICD-10) was used for this purpose from January 1993 until January 2022. 

• The WHO began development of the eleventh version (ICD-11) in 2007. Experts from over 90 countries participated in the Joint Task Force and Topic Advisory Groups to develop ICD-11’s structure and content. 

• Over 270 institutions, health workers, epidemiologists, allied health care, health information managers, patients and statisticians from all continents provided extensive input to ICD-11.

• WHO published ICD-11 for review in 2018, and the World Health Assembly adopted ICD-11 in May 2019. It came into effect from January 1, 2022.

• The ICD is a flagship WHO product that serves as the basis for identifying health trends and statistics at country level and worldwide. 

• Health conditions and accidents are assigned ICD–11 codes, resulting in data that can be used by governments to design effective public health policies, and measure their impact, or used for clinical recording.

• Today, it includes approximately 17,000 diagnostic categories and more than 130,000 clinical terms for injuries, diseases and causes of death, code combinations enable documentation of any clinical detail, with automated software support up to two million terms.

• It is at the foundation of WHO’s Fourteenth General Programme of Work efforts to accelerate progress towards health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing inequalities and achieving relevant national health targets.

• Every day, vital and life-saving decisions in clinical, administrative, policy and research settings are guided by the common terminology defined in ICD-11.

• ICD-11 also influences the availability of financial protection and social insurance, as health insurers’ reimbursements depend on ICD coding. 

• Moreover, the classification of diseases has an immeasurable impact on how society’s views and behaviours towards diseases and health conditions are shaped; how people seek and receive health care; how providers respond; and what policies surround the provision of care. 

• For example, when diseases of the immune system were re-classified and given more focus in ICD-11, it helped health practitioners address autoimmune disorders based on the most current knowledge and evidence.

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