Globally, women in different regions face similar problems at different levels of intensity. Major issues include how the HIV/AIDS pandemic affects women, including their disease status, along with the different levels of familial, economic and social power they hold. When there is greater inequality between men and women, countries are hindered from achieving their full economic development potential. There are multiple reasons for these problems, including gender inequality, and while there is no one that can be pinpointed as the sole reason, these problems are strongly linked to women's access to reproductive health care. This includes contraception that protects women from diseases such as HIV/AIDS, such as condoms, which helps women take an assertive role in their economic status. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Typically, women in less developed and middle-income countries experience these problems to a greater extent than women living in developed nations. Lack of access to reproductive healthcare has a negative impact on the level of gender equality in countries with lower levels of economic development; including the stagnation of women's cultural and economic empowerment and the consequences of disease. Because of these issues, public health workers, social workers, government, non-profit organizations, and other entities must strive to provide women globally with both education and access to disease-protecting services. . contraceptives and other reproductive health care options. One effective way to do this is through countries providing global aid and funding to help support women's reproductive health care. In addition to the health costs associated with lack of contraception, such as exposure to HIV, the economic consequences are clear for countries where gender inequality is high. Countries that have higher levels of inequality will not be able to achieve greater economic development. If access to contraception were made a priority, perhaps some of the negative consequences that governments face could be minimized. Healthcare costs could decrease, the level of economic development per country could increase, and women could experience further cultural and economic empowerment. The United Nations studies each country's development levels and ranks them based on their Human Development Index or HDI. The HDI measures a country's level of development through income, education and life expectancy. The nine development regions studied by the United Nations are: North America, Europe, Latin America, East Asia, South-West Asia and North Africa, Central Asia, South-East Asia, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Of these nine regions, the UN classifies two as developed regions (North America and Europe) and the other seven as developing regions. The United Nations also specifically studies issues related to gender inequality and economic development. Gender inequality is a major issue in most societies today. According to the United Nations Gender Inequality Index, there is no country in the world where women are treated the same as men. Women experience a lack of access to decent work, education and healthcare. They are not equally represented in political and economic processes as men are. The United Nations claims that inequality between men and women is a major factor.