ATCvet methodology

Purpose

ATCvet is a system for the classification of substances intended for therapeutic use in veterinary medicine, and can serve as a tool for the classification of medicinal products.

The ATCvet system provides an administrative tool for putting groups of drugs into systems according to therapeutic categories. The aim is to:

• facilitate exchanges of data for pharmacovigilance studies;
• improve the comparability of statistics on sales of veterinary medicinal products;
• provide authors of scientific articles with a tool for identifying medicines; and
• help veterinary surgeons and pharmacists in their everyday work.

In manyEuropean countries, veterinary medicinal products are presented in accordance with the ATCvet system in drug catalogues, and the system is used as an administrative tool by the health authorities. Since many substances are used in both human and veterinary medicine, the possibility of linking the classification systems for the two areas is of considerable value. The ATCvet system is therefore being developed in close association with the ATC system.

History

The basis for the ATCvet classification system is the ATC (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical) classification system for human medicines, which was developed in Norway in the early seventies. The use of the ATC classification and the DDD (Defined Daily Dose defined as the assumed average daily dose of a substance used in its main indication in adults) as a unit of measurement was introduced in the Nordic countries in 1976.

In 1982, the WHO Regional Office for Europe established the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology in Oslo. The main tasks of the Centre are to develop and maintain the ATC/DDD system, and to stimulate and influence the practical use of the ATC system by co-operating with researchers in the drug utilisation field.

In 1996 WHO Headquarters in Geneva decided to recommend the ATC/DDD system as an international standard for drug utilisation studies. The WHO appointed an expert group for the ATC/DDD system. The WHO International Working Group for Drug Statistics Methodology includes people from all regions. The Group meets twice annually.

The Nordic Council on Medicines established the ATCvet classification system in 1990. In January 2001, the ATCvet was taken over by the WHO Collaborating Centre. The Norwegian authorities fund the work with ATCvet.

WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology

The Centre was established in 1982. The Centre is located in Oslo at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and funded by the Norwegian government.

The Centre's main activities are development and maintenance of the ATC/DDD system, including:

• To classify drugs according to the ATC system.
• To establish DDDs for drugs which have been assigned an ATC code.
• To review and revise as necessary the ATC classification system and DDDs.
• To stimulate and influence the practical use of the ATC system by co-operating with researchers in the drug utilization field.
• To organize training courses in the ATC/DDD methodology and to lecture such courses and seminars organized by others.
• To provide technical support to countries in setting up their national medicines classification systems and build capacity in the use of medicines consumption information

ATCvet Working Group

The ATCvet Working Group consists of expert from European countries.

• 6 members - consists currently of experts from European countries
• Annual meeting after the meeting of the "human" Working Group
• Approves alterations from the ATC/DDD system, do the adaptations and maintains the system
• Classifies specific veterinary products according to applications

Experts from other countries and organisations are also invited to attend meetings of the working group as observers. They contribute to its work by playing an active part in the discussions and offering proposals and advice. However, the observers are not responsible for the decisions taken regarding the ATCvet system.