Health
Health statistics, clinical trials, medicines and food safety
Health data APIs give public-health statistics, clinical trials, drug names and safety data, and food hygiene ratings from bodies such as the WHO, the US National Library of Medicine, the FDA and the CDC. They are for information and research, not medical advice.
CDC Open Data API (data.cdc.gov)
The CDC open data portal publishes hundreds of US public-health datasets, such as causes of death, vaccination coverage and disease surveillance, each with its own API (Socrata SODA). Filter, sort and aggregate rows with SoQL in ...
ClinicalTrials.gov API
The ClinicalTrials.gov API from the US National Library of Medicine searches more than 500,000 clinical studies from around the world, with their conditions, treatments, locations, status and results, for example to find ...
Food Hygiene Rating API (FSA)
The Food Hygiene Rating API from the UK Food Standards Agency gives the hygiene ratings of restaurants, cafés, shops and other food businesses in the UK, with their address and inspection date, for example to show a restaurant's ...
openFDA
openFDA from the US Food and Drug Administration gives public data on drugs (labels, adverse event reports, recalls), medical devices, foods and tobacco. Search and count records with a simple query syntax. Responses are JSON. ...
RxNorm API (RxNav)
The RxNorm API from the US National Library of Medicine gives normalised names and codes for clinical drugs, with their ingredients, strengths, brand names and links between them, for example to match drug names typed by users to ...
WHO Global Health Observatory API
The WHO Global Health Observatory API gives the health statistics of the World Health Organization for all countries: life expectancy, mortality, diseases, vaccination, health workforce and more, for example to compare life ...
Compare the health data APIs
| Service | API key | Formats | Free use |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDC Open Data API (data.cdc.gov) | Not needed | JSON, CSV | Free, no key needed; a free app token raises the rate limit. |
| ClinicalTrials.gov API | Not needed | JSON | Free, no key needed. |
| Food Hygiene Rating API (FSA) | Not needed | JSON, XML | Free, no key needed. |
| openFDA | Not needed | JSON | Free; works without a key, and a free API key raises the daily limit. |
| RxNorm API (RxNav) | Not needed | JSON, XML | Free, no key needed. |
| WHO Global Health Observatory API | Not needed | JSON | Free, no key needed. |
Questions
Which free health data APIs work without an API key?
CDC Open Data API (data.cdc.gov), ClinicalTrials.gov API, Food Hygiene Rating API (FSA), openFDA, RxNorm API (RxNav) and WHO Global Health Observatory API work without a key, according to their documentation. Most keyless services ask you to keep the number of requests reasonable, and some ask for a User-Agent that names your app.
Are these health data APIs really free?
The services here can be used without paying, at least on a free plan or free tier, often with limits such as a number of requests per day or non-commercial use only. The table above quotes what each service says about its free use; check the provider's own terms before you rely on it.
How up to date is this list?
The address of every service is checked about once a week, and services that stop working or stop being free are removed. This list last changed on November 8th, 2026.