KIGALI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda on Monday launched a maternal and child health awareness campaign to mobilize communities to adopt healthy habits to prevent key health issues.

Under the theme of "Integrated Maternal and Child Health Week," the campaign is running from Oct. 14-18 across the country.

This is an integrated campaign on family planning methods for women and men, sensitization on hygiene, malaria, vaccination, and teenage pregnancy, Patrick Ndimubanzi, minister of state in charge of public health and primary health care, said at the launch event in Karongi district, western Rwanda.

The awareness campaign wants families to play a big role in maintaining health through a mindset change on healthy living and hygiene habits such as washing hands with clean water and soap, said Ndimubanzi.

Raising awareness on the proper feeding of children and proper child growth is also involved in the campaign, the minister said.

The door-to-door campaign will be conducted by community health workers who will also give out Vitamin-A tablets to children from newborn babies to 15 years old and weigh children below five years old, he said.

Rwanda has set a target of achieving universal coverage of equitable quality maternal, neonatal and child health services by 2024.

Rwanda has made substantial progress in improving maternal health, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It is among the countries that has achieved the Millennium Development Goal 5, reducing the maternal mortality ratio by 75 percent in the past 25 years, the WHO said. Enditem

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