Add codification vaccine drug product identifier vs. generic ATC code identifier

[bradhead]

The batch or lot number goes with a unique product (by identifier), not a vaccine classification like the ATC Code that describes the archetype or generic name of the vaccine (e.g. "COVID-19" being J07BX03) - often synonymous with the disease(s) being tackled. Rather than conflate generic concept codes with product identifiers, I would suggest creating a section in the VC called 'vaccine' that includes a product name, manufacturer and an identifier { value + code system } and disease. In addition, then use ATC Code or more generically another code system { value, system, name } to describe the disease(s) or generic name of the vaccine. The Lot number is part of the event data, but it must refer to a product not an archetype vaccine.

Example: In Canada, every approved product is assigned a Drug Identification Number. It must be paired with the Lot Number (sic batch Number) to provide a tractable administration of that vaccine/drug. Then you may want to convey the disease or generic name of the vaccine and that could be done with ATC Codes, ICD codes or commonly with SNOMED CT codes. Letting the audience know what code system is used for both the generic/disease(s) and the vaccine product would be useful.

As a principle, it would be my preference to let the verifier figure out the mapping form the source code system to their favourite target code system and relieve a burden from the issuing authority to map their source data to a specific code system in anticipation of a specific verifier's needs.

[tplooker]

@bradhead thanks for this insight

I would suggest creating a section in the VC called 'vaccine' that includes a product name, manufacturer and an identifier { value + code system } and disease

Understood, this is much more like how FHIRs data model looks, IMO this information is ideally a good candidate to actually just reference in the VC (e.g via a URL) rather than embedding it by value. Then verifiers could cache the URL's for all the unique vaccine products to enable offline verification.

Letting the audience know what code system is used for both the generic/disease(s) and the vaccine product would be useful

Agree, or more generally this spec should define the syntax to communicate that, as it's unlikely there will be a single code system chosen globally.

As a principle, it would be my preference to let the verifier figure out the mapping form the source code system to their favourite target code system and relieve a burden from the issuing authority to map their source data to a specific code system in anticipation of a specific verifier's needs.

+1

[aljones15]

ATC does not appear to describe a disease, but rather stands for a specific system in the body and/or what a drug effects in that system: https://www.who.int/tools/atc-ddd-toolkit/atc-classification

Example:
C - Cardiovascular System
C08D - Selective Calcium Channel Blockers with direct cardiac effects

So it looks like the WHO's ICD system might be the best classifier for disease name: https://icdcode.info/

I do think ATC is a good idea, but I also think we need to support ICD-9 and up.

Both ATC and ICD are WHO standards.

EDIT: looks like ATC codes become specific enough to describe disease names. My apologies. It does look like ATC is most useful for describing the vaccine's type and ICD is better for describing the disease itself.

Just to compare:

ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), a medical classification list by the World Health Organization (WHO). It contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases.

The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system and the Defined Daily Dose (DDD) as a measuring unit are recommended by the WHO for drug utilization studies. The system is widely used internationally and the number of users is increasing. The purpose of preparing guidelines is to make information about the ATC/DDD system available to the users.