For women between the ages of 15 and 44, reproductive health issues (including HIV/AIDS) continue to be the largest causes of illness and death.

In the area of sexual and reproductive health, evidence suggests the following areas will provide the greatest return in health and the improvement of women's lives:

• Enabling all women to plan and space their pregnancies would decrease mortality by 20-35%.
• Universal access to skilled care during birth and access to emergency obstetric care could reduce maternal mortality rates by 74%.

In non-reproductive health areas:

• At least 80% of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, and 40% of cancer, can be avoided by healthy diet, regular exercise and avoiding tobacco use.

Health interventions must take social determinants impacting women's health into consideration such as gender discrimination, access to credit, and community attitudes that determine women's and girls' access to health care, sex education, and basic education for girls.