The Bulletin of the World Health Organization is an international journal of public health with a special focus on developing countries. Since it was first published in 1948 the Bulletin has become one of the world's leading public health journals. As the flagship periodical of the World Health Organization (WHO) the Bulletin draws on WHO experts as editorial advisers reviewers and authors as well as on external collaborators. In this month's issue: At the crossroads: transforming health systems to address women s health across the life course; Rallying United Nations organizations in the fight against noncommunicable diseases; Global mortality trends and patterns in older women; Cervical and female breast cancers in the Americas: current situation and opportunities for action; Risk factors for noncommunicable chronic diseases in women in China: surveillance efforts; A life-course perspective on physical functioning in women; Differences by sex in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus impaired fasting glycaemia and impaired glucose tolerance in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis; Why the time is right to tackle breast and cervical cancer in low-resource settings; Innovative public-private partnership: a diagonal approach to combating women s cancers in Africa; Integration of comprehensive women s health programmes into health systems: cervical cancer prevention care and control in Rwanda; Recommendations towards an integrated life-course approach to women s health in the post-2015 agenda; Sexual health in older women; Accelerating action towards universal health coverage by applying a gender lens; Policy directions to improve women s health beyond reproduction.