In 2006, Germany's sixth national health target entitled "Depressive illnesses - prevention, early diagnosis, sustainable treatment" was developed by an interdisciplinary group of experts. A total of six areas of activity and proposals for action with potential for improvement were defined. Subsequently, a group of experts was entrusted with designing evaluation strategies, defining indicators of progress, and examining the accessibility of data sources for evaluation. For the primary start-up activities set out in the health targets, specific progress indicators were deduced, and routine data available for evaluation were identified. As a next step, the limitations of these data sources were analyzed and necessary improvements described. Relevant indicators of progress for specific areas of activity have been described, the availability and usability of different existing data sources examined, and further supplements or additional specifications with respect to the indicators described. Due to inadequate data sources, additional systematic surveys are required to evaluate the health target and its implementation. Existing German surveys should be extended by questions concerning relevant measures and progress indicators; various progress indicators should be analyzed on a general basis.
