[Significance and development of the application of the International System of Units )SI-WHO 1977) in health care].

Normal and pathological metabolic processes in the organism are determined by the amount-of-substance concentration of the metabolites involved. The analytical detection of these amount-of-substance concentrations for diagnostic purposes requires a measuring system that takes these molecular processes into consideration. Moreover, a uniform measuring system is required in order to ensure comparability of the numerical results of laboratory diagnostic investigations. Based on proposals put forward by international scientific medical societies, the WHO therefore decided in 1977 on the common use of a special form of the International System of Units (SI).