The 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) was officially released on June 18, 2018. A team led by Dr. Robert Jakob, Measurements & Health Information Systems Department, Information, Evidence and Research, WHO, visited our hospital on April 28. They learned about progress in the Center, discussed collaboration on the last stage of ICD-11 revision and its future promotion and implementation in China.

The two sides had a conference on the morning of the 28th, at room 314 of the teaching building, which was chaired by Wang Yipeng, director of the Center. Officials from the National Health Commission, including Zhou Changqiang, deputy director of Department of Medical Administration, Fu Wei, director of China National Health Development Research Center, and Xue Ming, director of Department of Statistics, Statistics and Information Center, attended and addressed the conference.

Deputy Director of the Center Wang Yi delivered a work report, including the Center’s achievements in 37 years in promoting ICD education and training, implementation and application, development and revision, as well as its domestic and international cooperation, and also plans for the future.

Dr. Robert Jakob praised the close cooperation between the Center and the National Health Commission to build an effective health information structure, and gave an introduction of ICD-11’s features, development course, implementation and maintenance.

The ICD-11 Chinese international standards will impact not only China but all Chinese-speaking areas in the world. Officials of WHO and the National Health Commission are all looking forward to the release of ICD-11 Chinese international standards. And the Center, under the technical guidance of WHO, will actively cooperate with the relevant departments of the National Health Commission to push forward the assessment and implementation of ICD-11 in China.

By Zhang Meng, Department of Medical Records & WHO Collaborating Centre for the Classification of Diseases