The Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) is the third largest country in Africa and one of the poorest. Decades of dictatorship under Mobutu and ongoing and unresolved civil war have left much of the national infrastructure in tatters. The current project aims to revitalise existing primary health care services with additional support to referral facilities including a network of 90 health centres and three referral hospitals in 5 health zones targeting a population of 860 000 and full support to the Kindu referral Hospital SMI project in Goma.