Predicting the development of gender-specific premature mortality for Germany by 2030.

Germany has set itself the goal of reducing the premature mortality of under 70-year-old men to 190/100,000 and of women to 100/100,000 (age-standardized) by 2030. This is in line with the targets of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) (2015-2030) to reduce premature mortality by 34% for both men and women during this period. For the years 2010 to 2018, the premature mortality of 0-69-year-old men and women was calculated and standardized to the European population. On this basis, two linear trend calculations were made and compared with each other: 1. with the data of the target for Germany up to the year 2030, and 2. with the real figures achieved so far. The goal of reducing premature mortality by 34% within 15 years can, according to the current trend, only be achieved to 13.5% for men and 5.2% for women. Conclusions will be drawn from this as to how premature mortality can be reduced more significantly.

Methodological considerations concerning the development of oral dental erosion indexes: literature survey, validity and reliability.

Within the context of preventing non-communicable diseases, the World Health Report (2002) and the WHO Global Oral Health Program (2003) put forward a new strategy of disease prevention and health promotion. Greater emphasis is placed on developing global policies in oral health promotion and oral disease prevention. The Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth (DMFT) index does not meet new challenges in the field of oral health. Dental erosion seems to be a growing problem, and in some countries, an increase in erosion of teeth is associated with an increase in the consumption of beverages containing acids. Therefore, within a revision of the WHO Oral Health Surveys Basic Methods, new oral disease patterns, e.g. dental erosion, have to be taken into account. Within the last 20 years, many studies on dental erosion have been carried out and published. There has been a rapid growth in the number of indexes quantifying dental erosion process in different age groups. However, these indexes are not comparable. This article discusses quality criteria which an index intended for assessing tooth erosion should possess.

Minimum health indicator set for South Eastern Europe.

AIM: The Stability Pact includes a program for the development and reconstruction of training and research in public health for the countries of South Eastern Europe (PH-SEE). One of the identified priorities of national public health development is the definition of a Minimum Indicator Set for all countries of SEE. METHODS: A Task Force of the PH-SEE Network (www.snz.hr/ph-see) has proposed a Minimum Indicator Set on the basis of the list of the 224 indicators of the World Health Organization (WHO) Health for All (HFA) 21 strategy. The indicators selected follow the selection criteria as defined by expert groups of WHO and the European Commission. A meta-database describing the indicators should be established soon. RESULTS: A list of 32 indicators was agreed at a workshop in Ohrid, Macedonia, in September 2001. All indicators are included in the WHO HFA 21 indicator set. Some indicators are related specifically to the SEE post-war situation, such as indicators on suicide and homicide, literacy rate, average number of calories per person a day, and average number of persons per room. CONCLUSION: After principal agreement of the expert group on the list of indicators, further practical steps are necessary, especially testing the indicators and building a logistic network for realizing the Minimum Indicator Set. This includes a pilot phase, a revision of the Minimum Indicator Set after testing, responsibilities and timelines for data collection and data analysis, and transfer of the project into a continuous surveillance and monitoring system.