Germany

In January 2021, Germany joined a global effort to develop, maintain, and enable the use of SNOMED CT in health systems around the world.

The German representative to SNOMED International is the the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, BfArM), an independent federal higher authority within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Health.

At the BfArM, roughly 1,250 employees (physicians, pharmacists, chemists, biologists, lawyers, engineers, technical assistants, administrative staff etc.) are involved in the tasks of licensing, improving the safety of medicinal products, detecting and evaluating the risks of medical devices, and monitoring the legal traffic in narcotic drugs and precursors.

The most important aim of these activities is to increase the safety of medicinal products and thus that of the patients. Consequently, the BfArM makes a major contribution towards the prevention of risks to public health. In addition, it provides high-quality information for all areas of the health system via Internet.

More information about SNOMED CT in Germany can be accessed here.