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Makurdi – The Benue State Primary Health Care Board (BSPHCB) has taken a major step towards a successful December 2025 immunization campaign by organizing a one-day orientation training for Social Mobilization Officers (SMOs) from all 23 local government areas of the state.
Held in Makurdi, the training focused on equipping the officers ahead of the forthcoming Sub-National Immunization Plus Days (SNIPDs) and the Maternal and Newborn Child Health Week (MNCHW), both scheduled for December 2025.
Dr. Phillip Toryue, who presented the meeting’s objectives, stressed the critical role of demand generation for immunization services, advocacy, communication, and social mobilization. He charged the SMOs to pursue excellence in their respective LGAs and adopt innovative strategies to boost coverage and performance.
Dr. Ene Ochai, Program Manager of the IMPACT Project, urged the officers to intensify sensitization of Officers-in-Charge at Primary Health Care centres to ensure facilities remain open round-the-clock for community members. She emphasized that accessible and functional PHCs are key to achieving universal health coverage in rural and hard-to-reach communities.
World Health Organization (WHO) Benue State Coordinator, Dr. Mohammed Abdulkarim, reminded participants of their core responsibilities and the importance of involving traditional leaders, religious leaders, health facility in-charges, NGOs, and school heads as active members of Village Development Committees (VDCs) to drive grassroots acceptance and participation.
The MNCHW, a bi-annual event coordinated by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), delivers a package of high-impact maternal, newborn, and child health interventions, including routine immunization, vitamin A supplementation, deworming, nutrition screening, and multiple micronutrient supplementation for pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children under five. The week-long activity is designed to reduce maternal and child mortality while improving overall health outcomes.
The BSPHCB says these efforts form part of a wider initiative to strengthen primary healthcare systems across Benue State and ensure that no child or mother is left behind, especially in rural and underserved areas.
With the orientation concluded, Social Mobilization Officers have now returned to their various local governments to begin intensive community engagement, setting the stage for what health authorities hope will be one of the most successful immunization and maternal-child health campaigns in the state’s recent history.
Parents and caregivers are encouraged to make their children and pregnant women available when the teams visit their communities in December. As the slogan goes: a fully immunized child is a protected child, and a healthy mother is the foundation of a healthy home.
