Following the tsunami disaster that affected the population of South-East Asia in December 2004, the Italian Civil Protection Department of the Government of Italy entrusted the Italian National Institute of Health with the task of evaluating the socio-economic and health situation in the districts within the Italian Civil Protection competence in Sri Lanka, viz. Galle, Matara and Trincomalee. This project proposal is aimed at building a dynamic and up-datable scenario, based on socio-economic, health and environmental data, focusing on the characterization of the risk at individual and community levels by means of a description of the socio-economic and health status of the affected and non-affected population in the selected districts and the support for a Public Health Laboratory regarding the risks related to food and water intake. The intervention is based on a two-fold strategy including both a research and a support component. The objective of the study was to: a) analyse the quality of life and identify the population health needs in the selected districts, b) to describe the current response to the health needs, c) to build poverty and exclusion indexes that can be associated to negative predictive events for the health, social and economic dimensions, d) to assess the tsunami impact on health and quality of life of those affected and e) to identify the health priorities related to drinking water in the flooded areas in order to improve the quality and safety of water.