WHO Application of ICD-10 for low-resource settings initial cause of death collection

The SMoL has been designed to be in line with the ICD, and informs setting public health priorities and tracking progress towards national and international targets and goals such as the post-2015 health and development agenda. This list is designed to be a first step towards standardized reporting of causes of death. Countries lacking the capacities to code to ICD 3- or 4-digits should use the Simple Mortality List. Wherever capacity exists or completeness of reporting is sufficient, the full ICD should be used, ideally in combination with electronic coding tools.