Conforming to the international classification of diseases: A critique on health information reporting system in Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract: Even though updating the health information system of a nation and conforming to international standards is essential for health development, it appears that very little attention is being paid to brace up the gap between the international disease taxonomy and that of Ethiopia. With the intention of appraising the existing local state of affairs with regard to the adoption of a national nosology of diseases, a review of current classification methods of diseases in Ethiopia was done and was compared with recent international developments. The World Health Organization (WHO) that took over the responsibility of revisions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) in 1946 with the 6th edition has recently come up with the 10th edition which is adopted world wide. Ethiopia is one of the users of the ICD system but, in disparity with the current changes, it still employs the intermediate list of ICD-6 that was supposed to be compatible with the then developing countries’ health manpower. The conditions that dictated the use of WHO’s intermediate list of causes of morbidity and mortality in the 1950’s are no longer compelling. Our review has made us realise that the persistent use of the outdated classification makes our health information system different from the rest of the world. Putting ICD-10, the latest revision, in place, is highly recommended. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 1999;13(3):281-283]