Annie Lennox, Rachel Stevens and other high-profile women have joined Oxfam's She Changes Lives campaign, which highlights the work of women who are making a massive difference to people's lives.

Oxfam photographed celebrities including Annie Lennox, Mariella Frostrup and Zoe Ball, who have both chosen women they met in developing countries whose life-changing work really inspired them.

Annie Lennox met Nonkululo, a HIV positive AIDS counsellor, in South Africa. Annie Lennox said:

"Nonkululo is a true inspiration and is very empathic because she has a direct experience of living with the HIV virus. The whole region where she lives is very poor and remote and has been devastated by HIV. You read the statistics and they're brutally shocking but they don't really convey the human story. The scale of suffering is staggering."

Zoe Ball was blown away by Eunice Victory, a HIV carer she met on an Oxfam trip to Malawi. Zoe said:

"Eunice doesn't get paid but helps because there are lots of people in her village who are sick and suffering, and there is no one else to take care of them. It's awe inspiring how one woman is giving so much hope to a whole community."

Most of the poorest people in the world are women. Oxfam's work finds that women are often working in the worst conditions for the lowest pay. More money and more opportunities for women would give them the chance to work their way out of poverty and provide for their children. Furthermore, 6 million more health workers and teachers are needed in the developing world. More investment in women could help fill that gap.

Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis met Pastor Mary Crockett at the hospice she runs for HIV sufferers, in South Africa. Emily said:

"Pastor Mary is an extraordinary woman. All her energy goes into running the hospice. It is relatively small, but absolutely crucial, in a part of the world where HIV is rife, but not properly addressed. It is this kind of project which sees people through extremely difficult times, where no other support is available".

The work of these incredible women is changing the lives of some of the world's poorest people. But many people are still going without any medical treatment at all, because they cannot access or afford the vital healthcare they need.

Every minute, a woman with no medical care dies in pregnancy or childbirth.
Every hour, 300 people die of an AIDS-related illness.
Every day, 4,000 children die of diarrhoea caused by dirty water.

Next week, world leaders will meet at a high level event on healthcare, at the UN General Assembly in New York, and will have the chance to expand free healthcare in poor countries.
Annie Lennox said:

"Everyone should have the right to medical treatment, but many people in Africa simply cannot afford it. If governments commit to providing free healthcare it will make a huge impact on the continent and help to change millions of lives".