NEW PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSGENDER HEALTH IN THE FORTHCOMING 11TH REVISION OF THE INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES AND RELATED HEALTH PROBLEMS: AN OVERVIEW OF GENDER INCONGRUENCE - DEPATHOLOGIZATION, CONSIDERATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS

On June 18 th , 2018, the World Health Organization officially released its new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) for preview; it was presented on World Health Assembly in May 2019 for adoption by Member States.Since ICD 11 is planned to come into effect and be officially used as from January 1 st , 2022, this early sneak peek allows health care professionals enough time to prepare for the new classification and all the changes it brings along.ICD 11 moves away from stigmatizing practices of psychiatrization of transgender persons and finally excludes issues of gender identity from the chapter on mental and behavioral disorders.This reconceptualization consequently sets the stage for different roles of psychiatrists in meeting transgender patients' health care needs.This article addresses the most important changes to the ICD related to Gender incongruence, a new nosological entity formerly known as Gender Identity Disorder or Gender Dysphoria.The paper offers an overview of the current and future positions of transgender health issues through contemporary medical conceptualization and classification.It aims to eliminate barriers to quality care for transgender patients, by attending to the recognized knowledge gaps and by providing recommendations for psychiatrists and other health care professionals who commonly receive low levels of exposure to transgender content in their education.