270 million children around the world without access to health care... 2 out of 3 people without access to clean drinking water... exploding urban populations, slated to double in 30 years... climate change... new and emerging diseases, an aging population with a plummeting quality of life...

• Global shortage of 4.2 million health professionals – This is the magnitude of the global crisis in human resources for health, according to WHO estimates. The main causes of the shortage: violence, illness, death, migration, poor working conditions, and retirement are predicted to get worse in the coming decades.
  
  
• Nearly 45 million uninsured and 30 million underserved in the USA – From veterans to children, the elderly and minorities, the US health system is failing its citizens. The creep from public to private health, disparities in care, and inequities in outcomes are further signs of the system's urgent need for reform. 
  
  
• Dismal progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goals – Halfway to the 2015 target date agreed upon by the 191 members of the United Nations, and "the prospects are mixed, at best," says Former Secretary General Kofi Annan. No region is on track to hit the markers for these goals which aim to measure progress towards eliminating extreme poverty.  Some cynics have even started calling them the "Millennium Development Holes."   
  
  
• Chronic Diseases – Representing 60% of the global disease burden (80% of that in low- and middle-income countries), chronic diseases are taxing already-strained public health systems worldwide. Few countries have a comprehensive, integrated public health plan in place to prevent and manage chronic disease.
  
  
• AIDS, TB & Malaria - Collectively killing almost 6 million annually – disproportionately in the developing world – these infectious diseases continue to negatively affect population health and wreak havoc on frail public health systems.