A team of medical experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO), specialising in leprosy, will arrive in Sri Lanka in March to help eliminate the disease.
The director of the Anti-Leprosy Campaign (ALC), Prasad Ranaweera, said this on Wednesday.
He said the number of leprosy patients found in Sri Lanka had significantly increased in 2023 following a drop in numbers in 2020 and 2021 due to the advent of the Coronavirus lockdowns.
Mr Ranaweera said more than 1,550 instances of leprosy were reported in 2023, and out of those, 173 were among schoolchildren.
Out of the total number of 1,550, the Western Province, the most populated province in Sri Lanka, recorded 599 cases, he said.
Mr Ranaweera said WHO experts would help them develop a roadmap to eliminate leprosy from Sri Lanka over the next decade.
