The Andhra Pradesh Rural Health Initiative (APRHI) was a collaborative effort to improve health outcomes for rural people in Andhra Pradesh. The project evaluated 53 villages in the districts of East Godavari and West Godavari. Over a four year span, starting in October 2003, approximately 6000 deaths were recorded in 45 villages using the verbal autopsy method. In addition to mortality surveillance, APRHI conducted a disease and risk factor assessment, the Rural Andhra Pradesh Cardiovascular Prevention Study (RAPCAPS), and an injury survey.