Table 4 Criteria for additions and deletions [20]

Criteria for additions

 i. “The indicator should have clear policy relevance. This implies that it should be related to one of the major public health issues in Europe, and the importance of the issue should be reflected by its appearance in leading policy documents. A public health issue is a policy relevant issue when it is linked to a high burden of disease, clear possibilities for prevention, and/or clear possibilities for reducing health inequalities”.

 ii. “The indicator should not disturb the balance of the ECHI shortlist, i.e. there should not be too many (overlapping) indicators for similar topics, and not too many indicators for ‘minor’ or contextual topics in the shortlist”.

 iii. “In line with the general goals and concepts underlying the ECHI shortlist, the shortlist should provide a ‘snapshot’ of public health from the point of view of the public health generalist”.

 iv. “In line with the general goals and concepts underlying the ECHI shortlist, the indicators in the shortlist should be suitable for providing a benchmark for reflecting time trends”.

 v. “In line with the general goals and concepts underlying the ECHI shortlist, the indicators in the shortlist should be suitable for providing a benchmark for international (EU) comparisons”.

Criterion for deletions

 i. “The indicator is related to a topic that is no longer policy relevant”.