Cervical cancer diagnosed in a woman living with HIV is an AIDS-defining illness. Yet it is largely preventable if the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is provided to girls and generally curable if diagnosed and treated early. Similarly, the unacceptably high rates of new HIV infections among women, particularly adolescent girls and young women living in sub-Saharan Africa, are preventable. These examples starkly expose the links between gender inequality, poverty, non-realization of rights and poor access to essential health services. Every year, more than 260 000 women—almost 90% from low- and middleincome countries—die, needlessly, from cervical cancer because of where they were born, because they were poor and because of inadequate health systems. With access to screening and treatment, rates of cervical cancer have steadily declined in many high-income countries. However, the benefits of these life-saving advances are not reaching all women and girls equally or equitably, particularly those living in the poorest regions of the world, which are worst affected by HIV, cervical cancer and noncommunicable diseases.