Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT)

Why it matters

ICD classifies conditions for statistics; SNOMED CT records the clinical detail behind them. Coded detail supports decision support, research and exchange between systems. Licensing depends on the country, so a ministry planning to use SNOMED CT in production needs to settle the licence before go live.

Key points

• SNOMED International describes SNOMED CT as the most comprehensive multilingual clinical healthcare terminology in the world, with more than 360,000 concepts [1].
• Each concept has a numeric identifier of up to 18 digits, human readable descriptions and relationships to other concepts; a concept can have more than one parent [1].
• Licensed use is free in Member countries. In non member territories fees depend on national wealth, and every user organisation must be an Affiliate or a sublicensee of one [2].
• The Members list shows 12 Asia Pacific Members, and no Pacific Island country among them [3].
• Most countries that use SNOMED CT continue to report in ICD.

In Moana

Moana supports SNOMED CT. Production use in a country requires that country's licence arrangements, through national membership or an affiliate licence.

Sources

1. Introduction to SNOMED CT, vendor introduction, SNOMED International, accessed 2026
2. Licensing, vendor introduction to SNOMED CT, SNOMED International, accessed 2026
3. SNOMED International Members, SNOMED International, accessed 2026