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Implementing ICD11 in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
Capacity-building in ICD-11 coding, December 2024
The 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) is an electronic tool that standardizes the language used by health professionals worldwide in diagnosing, reporting and monitoring diseases, injuries and causes of death.
Compared with the old version of the International Classification of Diseases that used manual and paper-based coding, the use of a digital tool, available on the WHO website, allows the integration of the multiple electronic tools used in the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
WHO mission conducting a site visit, November 2023
To support implementation in Tunisia, a transition and capacity-building plan was developed in 2023 to guide field implementation of ICD-11 for patient medical records in 2 public hospitals in the country.
The initiative had 3 major phases:
- Firstly, an in-country WHO mission lead by the regional WHO technical focal point was undertaken in November 2023 and a national transition plan was developed. The mission reviewed the system in use (ICD9) for patient medical records. This was followed by a national workshop to develop a transition plan and timeline for pilot implementation in the selected hospitals and to identify a list of actions.
- Secondly, virtual meetings were held during 2023–2024 between information technology (IT) teams from the National Center for Health Information, a WHO Collaborating Centre, in Kuwait and the Tunisian Ministry of Health to provide guidance on the technical steps required for adoption of the ICD-11 application programming interface (API) in hospitals. This phase was supported by the global WHO IT team.
- Thirdly, the Canadian Institute for Health Information, a French-speaking WHO Collaborating Centre in Canada, conducted French-language training on ICD-11 over 3 days in December 2024 for more than 40 participants on standards for ICD-11 registration of diagnosis and coding.
The collaboration with the WHO Collaborating Centres led to implementation of ICD-11 in the 2 public hospitals in Tunisia within 9–12 months.
Regional capacity-building on the WHO International Classification of Health Interventions, 16–19 November 2025
Group photo taken during the Regional Capacity-Building on the WHO International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) meeting, held from 16–19 November 2025
More than 60 participants attended a capacity-building workshop on the International Classification Health Interventions (ICHI), in Kuwait City, Kuwait, jointly organized by WHO and Kuwait WHO Collaborating Centre for the Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC). The training was held in a hybrid format, with in-person participation from Bahrain, Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia and virtual participants from Egypt and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The aim of the workshop was to build capacity on the ICHI and discuss ICHI/International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding within the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region and other regions.
The training was inaugurated by the Head of WHO-FIC, followed by an overview on the function of the National Center for Health Information in Kuwait from the WHO Representative in Kuwait. The Coordinator for Information Systems for Health, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, provided opening remarks, and the CRVS focal person in the WHO Regional Office highlighted WHO-FIC’s work within the Region, and outlined the training’s objectives and agenda.
The first two days of the workshop focused on training on the ICHI, while the final two days addressed country experiences and the sharing of practices. Participant feedback from the training will feed into consultations with countries in 2026, prior to submission of the ICHI for endorsement by WHO Member States in 2027.
Regional capacity building on WHO standards of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), 2024
Group photo from the Regional Capacity Building on WHO Standards of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) meeting, bringing together participants from across the region to strengthen expertise in disability data and ICF implementation. Photo credit: WHO
20 January: WHO and the Kuwait WHO Collaborating Centre for the Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC), held a 3-day ICF capacity-building workshop on the foundations of the ICF, which covered the health, disability and environment model and WHO’s ICF assessment tools. The training was held in a hybrid format, with in-person participation from Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia and virtual participants from Egypt, Bahrain, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The workshop was inaugurated the WHO Representative in Kuwait, who highlighted the WHO-FIC’s role in supporting WHO’s programme of work, and the importance of the ICF in capturing functional disability levels due to chronic diseases, helping health promotion interventions. The training focused on basic definitions and history of the ICF, coding structures, mechanisms and conventions, the creation of the ICF report, goal-setting for rehabilitation and quality of care, monitoring and evaluation, and the WHO disability assessment schedule (WHODAS 2.0), addressed through discussion and practice sessions. The workshop concluded with the identification of key actions to develop methods to collect disability data through routine data sources.
