PESHAWAR, Sept 14: A team of plastic surgeons is arriving here from Germany to provide free treatment to people needing reconstructive surgery. This was stated by Dr Mohammad Arif, patron-in-chief of the Leprosy, TB and Blindness Relief Association, while speaking at the 'Guest Hour' programme held at the press club on Tuesday.

Accompanied by Mullah Gul, Abdul Salam and other office-bearers of the association, Dr Arif said they had provided treatment to thousands of patients since the formation of the association in 2001.

The team of German surgeons would arrive on Sept 23 and stay here for two weeks, he said. Leprosy, he said, was a skin disease, which if left unattended affected nerves and left scars on the affected areas.

NWFP Leprosy Control Officer Mullah Gul said they had registered 8,000 patients in the province, who were being treated at 40 centres established throughout the NWFP. The affected patients, he said, could not afford the cost of the reconstructive surgery.