May 14, 2026
11:00 a.m. (Eastern Time)
Language: Spanish, with simultaneous interpretation into English, Portuguese, and French.
The adoption of ICD-11 represents a key opportunity to strengthen the quality, comparability, and interoperability of health data in the Region of the Americas. Its implementation as a semantic standard enables more efficient integration of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems with Information Systems for Health (IS4H), contributing to improved public health decision-making.
In this session, Víctor Hugo Álvarez, epidemiologist and international consultant, will address the key aspects for an effective transition from ICD-10 to ICD-11.
The role of ICD-11 as a “common language” for clinical diagnoses and causes of death will be presented, including examples of how it facilitates the quality and interoperability of information across institutions and platforms.
This event is part of the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics thematic area, which aims to share best practices and strengthen technical and institutional capacities to improve the quality of morbidity and mortality data in the Region.
General objective
To strengthen technical and institutional capacities to use ICD-11 as the central semantic standard in Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) and Information Systems for Health (IS4H), improving the quality and integration of morbidity and mortality data, and enabling the interoperability required for digital transformation in health and informed decision-making.
Specific objective of the session: To explain the systematic use of ICD-11 as a semantic standard to integrate and ensure interoperability between CRVS and IS4H, improving the quality of data for public health.
Speaker
Víctor Hugo Álvarez
Physician epidemiologist with experience in the management of health information systems and vital statistics at both national and subnational levels. Currently works as a consultant and advisor in the design and implementation of national plans for the adoption of ICD-11.
Moderator: Katri Kontio, Advisor in Information Systems and Digital Health, Pan American Health Organization.
Participation
- DATE: Thursday, May 14, 2026
- TIME: 11:00 – 12:00 (Eastern Time)
- PLATFORM: ZOOM
- LANGUAGE: Spanish, with simultaneous interpretation into English, Portuguese, and French.