Colombo: A team of medical experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), specialising in leprosy, will arrive in Sri Lanka in March, said Director of the Anti-Leprosy Campaign (ALC) Prasad Ranaweera appearing in local TV on Wednesday.

He said that the number of leprosy patients found in Sri Lanka has significantly increased in 2023 following a drop in numbers during 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 lockdowns.

Ranaweera said that over 1,550 instances of leprosy were reported in 2023, and out of those, 173 were schoolchildren.

Out of the total number of 1,550, the Western Province, the most populated province in Sri Lanka, recorded 599 cases, he said.

Ranaweera said WHO experts will help them come up with a roadmap to eliminate leprosy from Sri Lanka over the next decade.