Sri Lanka's 28 year protracted civil conflict between the government forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the North of country saw dramatic end by May 2009 when the military forces succeeded in crushing the LTTE. Around 300,000 people were displaced due to the conflict and they were settled in welfare villages established in the North.

The Government of Sri Lanka working in partnership with all other actors mounted a major humanitarian response to address the needs of the war displaced population. The Ministry of Health took a leading role in coordinating the health care programs for the Internally Displaced Population(IDP).

Higher morbidity and mortality observed during early phase of settlement of IDPs was due to the results of two scenarios, one being the conflict situation and its direct consequences that have caused injuries, disabilities and mental trauma among the population. The second being the result of the collapse of the health system in conflict affected areas, long period of displacement of people and the disruption of social structures that have led to the indirect consequences of increase of infectious diseases and worsening of chronic diseases. Ministry of Health used Daily Crude Mortality Rate (DCMR) to measure the success of the response. According to the Sphere Project guidelines that developed a set of minimum standards in a disaster situation, the DCMR should be 0.25 per 10 000 population for South East Asia. The emergency threshold level is 0.5 per 10 000 per day for this region.

Of the number of people reaching the IDP welfare villages in early stages of emergency phase in May, DCMR averaged to 0.7. The figure settled to less than 0.5 per 10000 in June 2009. Thereafter daily DCMR remained less than 0.5 indicating success of the provision of care for IDPS.