The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have shaped global health and development priorities and have catalysed major improvements in women’s and children’s health. The post-2015 development agenda, currently under debate, must capitalize on these achievements. To this end, in 2012 the United Nations System Task Team on the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda proposed a framework with four core dimensions: inclusive economic development, environmental sustainability, inclusive social development and peace and security. ¹ Based on this framework, the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda has proposed 12 goals and 54 targets as part of a transformative, people-centred agenda for development. We wish to reinforce the direction of this work by stressing the need to put populations’ health at the heart of the post-2015 agenda. This can be accomplished by moving health and development efforts beyond sectoral silos and focusing on the world’s most disadvantaged groups. ¹