[gesundheitsziele.de. Results of criteria analysis to select a new health target in Germany].

In 2008 the forum gesundheitsziele.de selected "Healthy aging" as a new health target. Besides "Healthy aging" three other targets were considered: chronic back pain, myocardial infarction, and vaccination. This paper describes the selection process for all four health targets which followed several criteria: mortality, morbidity, prevalence, burden of disease, economic impact, potential for improvement, equity in health, empowerment of and priorities in the population. The analysis particularly focused on assessment of feasibility and readiness of stakeholders to participate in the development and implementation of the health target.