Sri Lanka Communicable Disease Epidemiological Profile: WHO Country Guide for Disease Control in Humanitarian Emergencies
This country-specific epidemiological profile, developed by the World Health Organization’s Disease Control in Humanitarian Emergencies (DCE) unit, provides comprehensive guidance on major communicable disease threats facing resident and displaced populations in Sri Lanka. It was produced in the context of Sri Lanka’s protracted humanitarian crisis — a 25-year civil conflict that ended in 2009, which disrupted health infrastructure, displaced over one million people, and compromised disease surveillance across conflict-affected regions — as well as the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
The profile covers 27 communicable diseases of high burden or epidemic potential in Sri Lanka, organized into detailed disease-specific chapters. Each chapter addresses clinical description, case classification, transmission and incubation, epidemiological burden and geographic distribution, risk factors specific to emergency and displacement contexts, and prevention and control measures including case management, immunization protocols, and epidemic response procedures. Diseases covered include dengue, malaria, leptospirosis, tuberculosis, cholera, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, HIV/AIDS, typhoid fever, hepatitis A and E, leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis, and others.
Annexes provide supporting tools including key national health indicators, outbreak management steps, diagnostic flowcharts for communicable disease syndromes, safe water and sanitation guidance, injection safety protocols, and a comprehensive directory of WHO fact sheets and contacts. The profile is primarily intended for public health managers and humanitarian health professionals working in Sri Lanka, and is designed to support public health strategy, inter-agency coordination, and communicable disease control prioritization in emergency settings.