WHO Collaborating Centre for the WHO Family of International Classifications

The WHO Collaborating Centre for the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHOFIC) for North America (NACC) was established in 1976 to represent the United States and Canada in international activities related to study and revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Health Problems (ICD). In 1993, the Collaborating Centre also assumed responsibility for work in North America on the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps, now the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). In 2020, the WHO Collaborating Centre for the WHOFIC in Canada was designated and the NACC was redesignated as the WHO Collaborating Centre for the WHOFIC in the United States of America (USACC). The USACC is located at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS). Designation is in cooperation with the Pan American Health Organization every four years.

The USACC maintains liaison with WHO on United States government use, implementation and maintenance of the Family of International Classifications. The Collaborating Centre coordinates activities in three major aspects of classification: mortality, morbidity, and disability and works with the other WHO collaborating centers and related offices to promote and coordinate ICD and ICF applications. In the United States, NCHS has responsibility for ICD use in mortality statistics. Development and use of the clinical modification of ICD and related classifications for morbidity applications are a shared responsibility with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), with NCHS having the lead for diagnoses and CMS having the lead for procedures. NCHS also has responsibility for national disability statistics in the United States.