Medical Data Api

WHO GHO: No authentication required. No API key needed. All endpoints are publicly accessible with no registration.

Core Endpoints

openFDA: Drug Labels

Search FDA-approved drug labeling data (Structured Product Labeling). Returns boxed warnings, indications, dosage, contraindications, and adverse reactions text.

• URL: GET https://api.fda.gov/drug/label.json
• Parameters:

• Example:

curl "https://api.fda.gov/drug/label.json?search=aspirin&limit=1"

• Response: Returns meta.results.total (26,564 for "aspirin") and results array. Each result contains boxed_warning, indications_and_usage, dosage_and_administration, warnings, adverse_reactions, drug_interactions, and openfda cross-references (brand/generic names, manufacturer, NDC, pharmacologic class).

openFDA: Adverse Events (FAERS)

Search the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System. Each record describes a safety report including patient demographics, suspect drugs, reported reactions, and outcomes.

• URL: GET https://api.fda.gov/drug/event.json
• Parameters:

• Example:

curl 'https://api.fda.gov/drug/event.json?search=patient.drug.openfda.brand_name:"aspirin"&limit=1'

• Response: Returns meta.results.total (722,607 for aspirin). Each result: safetyreportid, serious (1=yes, 2=no), primarysourcecountry, receivedate, nested patient with patientsex, reaction array (MedDRA terms + reactionoutcome), and drug array with drugcharacterization (1=suspect, 2=concomitant, 3=interacting), medicinalproduct, openfda cross-references.

WHO GHO: Health Indicator Data

Retrieve data points for a specific health indicator with country, year, and sex dimensions.

• URL: GET https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/{IndicatorCode}
• Parameters (OData v4 query options):

• Example:

# Life expectancy at birth (WHOSIS_000001)
curl "https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHOSIS_000001?\$top=2"

• Response: OData JSON with value array. Each record: SpatialDim (ISO country, e.g., "BTN"), ParentLocation (WHO region), TimeDim (year), Dim1 (sex: "SEX_BTSX"/"SEX_MLE"/"SEX_FMLE"), Value ("67.8 [67.1-68.6]"), NumericValue (67.845665), Low/High confidence bounds.

WHO GHO: Indicator Directory

List available health indicators with their codes and names.

• URL: GET https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/Indicator
• Example:

curl "https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/Indicator?\$top=5"

• Response: Array of entries with IndicatorCode (e.g., "Adult_curr_e-cig"), IndicatorName (e.g., "Prevalence of current e-cigarette use among adults (%)"), Language ("EN"). Over 2,000 indicators spanning mortality, morbidity, health systems, and risk factors.

Rate Limits

openFDA:

• Without API key: 240 requests per minute (burst), 1,000 requests per day
• With free API key: 240 requests per minute, 120,000 requests per day
• Pagination ceiling: skip + limit cannot exceed 26,000 (use search + sort for deeper access)

WHO GHO:

• No documented rate limits; the service runs on Azure CDN (azureedge.net)
• Recommended: keep requests under 10/second for courtesy
• For bulk downloads, use the GHO data portal CSV exports at https://www.who.int/data/gho

Academic Use Cases

Pharmacovigilance: Adverse Event Signal Detection

Count reactions by MedDRA term to identify safety signals:

import requests

resp = requests.get("https://api.fda.gov/drug/event.json", params={
    "search": 'patient.drug.openfda.brand_name:"aspirin"',
    "count": "patient.reaction.reactionmeddrapt.exact",
    "limit": 10
})
for r in resp.json()["results"]:
    print(f"  {r['term']}: {r['count']} reports")

Epidemiology: Cross-National Health Comparisons

Compare health indicators across countries and time periods:

import requests

resp = requests.get("https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/WHOSIS_000001", params={
    "$filter": "SpatialDim eq 'JPN' and Dim1 eq 'SEX_BTSX'",
    "$orderby": "TimeDim desc",
    "$top": 10
})
for row in resp.json()["value"]:
    print(f"  Japan {row['TimeDim']}: {row['Value']}")

Public Health: Drug Label Comparison

Compare safety language across drug labels for regulatory research:

import requests

for drug in ["ibuprofen", "naproxen", "celecoxib"]:
    resp = requests.get("https://api.fda.gov/drug/label.json",
        params={"search": f'openfda.generic_name:"{drug}"', "limit": 1})
    results = resp.json().get("results", [])
    if results:
        warning = results[0].get("boxed_warning", ["None"])[0][:200]
        print(f"{drug.upper()}: {warning}...\n")

Key Indicator Codes (WHO GHO)

References

• openFDA documentation: https://open.fda.gov/apis/
• openFDA API key registration: https://open.fda.gov/apis/authentication/
• openFDA query syntax: https://open.fda.gov/apis/query-syntax/
• openFDA GitHub: https://github.com/FDA/openfda
• WHO GHO API documentation: https://www.who.int/data/gho/info/gho-odata-api
• WHO GHO OData endpoint: https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/
• WHO GHO indicator list: https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/Indicator
• WHO Global Health Observatory portal: https://www.who.int/data/gho