"In a little more than two years, the world will hit an important target: the date by which the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] are meant to be achieved," Lucy Chesire, executive director and secretary to the board of the TB ACTION Group, writes in the Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog. "These eight goals have been a blueprint for action for countries around the world and have focused attention and action on goals like universal primary education, reducing extreme poverty and halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, [tuberculosis (TB)], malaria and other diseases," she continues, noting, "Some of the goals have been met. Some are halfway there. Some are nowhere close to being achieved."