The International classification of diseases - which includes a chapter dealing with mental disorders - will be revised and its 11th Revision will be published in 2014.

A special unit within the World Health Organization coordinates the process of revision and the numerous tasks that have to be undertaken to ensure full participation of the WHO member states in the process of revision as well as the consideration of evidence on which the classification is to be based.

The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Control of the WHO has created a special advisory group that should help it in considering the evidence and proposals made by scientists, governments, organizations and interested individuals and in producing the draft of the classification of mental disorders for inclusion into the 11th Revision of the ICD: This group has, in turn, developed several structures that will deal with the tasks that will arise in the revision process. At the same time the American Psychiatric Association has created a DSM 5 Task Force that should develop proposals for the 5th Revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual that will be published in 2012.

The lecture will describe the processes and structures that have been put in place by the two organizations and refer to the issues that have arisen or are likely to arise in the course of work that should lead to the proposals for the ICD 11 and the DSM 5.