The CoDe project was initiated out of the need to harmonize and standardize the approach taken when collecting data and reviewing the causes of death in HIV-1 infected patients. This has become increasingly necessary as a significant proportion of deaths in HIV-1 infected persons are now caused by non-AIDS events, many AIDS defining illnesses are poorly identified in the ICD system, and some diseases (e.g. CNS diseases) have a different aetiology in HIV patients and are therefore not covered by the ICD system, or at great risk of mis-classification.
The CoDe Project is a uniform coding system that can be applied to studies of individuals with HIV infection, including a detailed data collection on the causes of death and contributing factors, as well as a centralized review process of the data collected.
Anyone wishing to implement CoDe is free to do so. Permission is not required. Please see page 6 of the Protocol for more information.