The International Classification of Diseases(ICD) is the international standard for the systematic recording, reporting, analysis, interpretation, and comparison of mortality and morbidity data.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) presented and released the 11th edition of ICD(ICD-11) at the World Health Assembly on May 25, 2019, for adoption by member states,

This release has since come into effect on January 1, 2022, to replace the 10th revision(ICD-10), currently in use.

While ICD-10 is still widely used, unfortunately, despite the updating process, ICD-10 is known to be clinically outdated, and structural changes are needed in some chapters.

There is also an increasing need to operate in an electronic environment, as well as the need to capture more information for morbidity-use cases.

According to the WHO, the 11th revision is a scientifically rigorous product that accurately reflects contemporary health and medical practice and represents a significant upgrade from earlier revisions.

The WHO ICD-11 revision goals include to;
1:
Ensure that ICD-11 will function in an electronic environment by:
a. presenting a digital product
b. providing linkage with terminologies (e.g., SNOMED)
c. defining ICD Categories by “logical operational rules” on their associations and details
d. supporting electronic health records & information systems;

2:
Provide a multi-purpose and coherent classification for mortality, morbidity, primary care, clinical care, research, and public health;

3:
Consistency & interoperability across different uses; and

4:
Deliver an international, multilingual reference standard for scientific comparability, i.e. in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic.