TY - JOUR AU - Rønning, Marit PY - 2009/11/06 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Coding and classification in drug statistics – From national to global application JF - Norsk Epidemiologi JA - Nor J Epidemiol VL - 11 IS - 1 SE - DO - 10.5324/nje.v11i1.532 UR - https://www.ntnu.no/ojs/index.php/norepid/article/view/532 SP - AB - <strong><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT;"><font face="TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT"><p align="left"> </p></font></span><p align="left"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT;"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT;">SUMMARY</span></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT;"></span></p></strong><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system and the defined daily dose (DDD)<p align="left">was developed in Norway in the early seventies. The creation of the ATC/DDD methodology was an</p><p align="left">important basis for presenting drug utilisation statistics in a sensible way. Norway was in 1977 also the</p><p align="left">first country to publish national drug utilisation statistics from wholesalers on an annual basis. The</p><p align="left">combination of these activities in Norway in the seventies made us a pioneer country in the area of drug</p><p align="left">utilisation research. Over the years, the use of the ATC/DDD methodology has gradually increased in</p><p align="left">countries outside Norway. Since 1996, the methodology has been recommended by WHO for use in</p><p align="left">international drug utilisation studies. The WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology</p><p align="left">in Oslo handles the maintenance and development of the ATC/DDD system. The Centre is now responsible</p><p align="left">for the global co-ordination. After nearly 30 years of experience with ATC/DDD, the methodology</p><p align="left">has demonstrated its suitability in drug use research. The main challenge in the coming years is to</p><p>educate the users worldwide in how to use the methodology properly.</p></span></span> ER -