Annette Brooke MP visits Microfinance projects in Bangladesh

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 4th Jun 2008

Mid Dorset & North Poole MP Annette Brooke has just returned from a study tour to Bangladesh to learn about efforts to combat poverty and tuberculosis (TB) in Asia.

During the week-long visit, Annette visited the Grameen Bank and its founder Professor Mohammed Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Professor Yunus has delivered a vision of lifting millions of the poorest people out of poverty with the setting up of micro finance projects. These projects involve giving very small loans, predominantly to women, who then are able to make a purchase (for example a cow) which enables them to generate an income to repay their loans, to save, to keep their children at school longer and to make household purchases.

Annette Brooke MP said: "During our visit we met with a village lady who was a microfinance client and her son who was just completing his Master's degree. Micro finance truly is a hand up and not a handout."

Annette also visited a range of rural, urban and workplace TB programmes and met with patients, health workers and decision-makers to develop a broader understanding of the impact that TB has on the lives of individuals, communities and the country as a whole.

The visit to Bangladesh was organised as part of the charity RESULTS UK's campaigning work to raise awareness about the global TB epidemic.

Annette Brooke MP said: "TB is a disease of poverty affecting mostly young adults in their most productive years. The vast majority of TB deaths are in the developing world and the largest number of cases occur in Asia.

"Witnessing the devastating impact of a disease like TB, and the efforts to control it, firsthand is by far the most effective way to truly understand the challenges that countries like Bangladesh are facing and how the UK can best provide support."