How to deal with America's health-care crisis deserves to be a major issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. For candidates who believe the country has the finest health-care delivery system in the world, we have a sobering reality.

While the life expectancy of Americans continues to rise, it is losing ground to longevity in other countries. Lots of countries.

Scientists estimate that a baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. That's long, but not as long as the life span of those born in 41 other countries, according to data gathered by the Census Bureau.

Two decades ago, U.S. life expectancy ranked 11th in the world. Now more than three dozen countries -- and not all of them developed, Western societies -- are doing better. Like Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a life expectancy of 78.5 years. Like Jordan, 78.1 years. Like Singapore, 81.5 years. And the small country that tops the list, Andorra, at 83.5 years.

Scientists decried America's "We're No. 42!" position in an Associated Press report that ran Aug. 12 in the Post-Gazette. Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, said, "Something's wrong here when one of the richest countries in the world, the one that spends the most on health care, is not able to keep up with other countries."

Among the reasons given by researchers for the United States' plunging rank in life expectancy are: 45 million Americans without health insurance (when Canada and European countries have universal health care); the nation's high rate of obesity (nearly one-third of adults); a relatively high infant mortality rate (6.8 deaths for every 1,000 live births); and racial disparities (black Americans have a five-year shorter life span than whites).

It's enough to make you sick.

But it should be enough to make Americans change -- how they eat, how much weight they carry and how they vote for national leaders when it comes to the critical issue of health care.