No fewer than 401,942 eligible persons were reportedly immunised during the just-concluded Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination (MNTE) exercise conducted in six local government areas of Taraba State.

The figure was disclosed on Thursday at the monthly meeting of the Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilisation (ACSM) Technical Working Group, held at the Situation Room of the Taraba State Agency for the Control of AIDS in Jalingo.

The immunisation exercise, which took place from September 28 to October 2, 2026, was carried out in six local government councils and 64 wards in the state.

The local government areas covered, as observed by The Guardian, were Gashaka, Ussa, Lau, Gassol, Ibi and Sardauna.

According to the figures presented at the meeting, the exercise recorded 401,942 vaccinations, representing 124 per cent coverage.

Despite the reported level of coverage, stakeholders identified several challenges encountered during the exercise, including inadequate resources, insufficient mobilisers, issues relating to media payments and misconceptions among members of the public.

Speaking at the meeting, the Executive Secretary of the Taraba State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Nuhu Tukura, emphasised the importance of advocacy and social communication in improving health service delivery and community participation.

Tukura said increased advocacy and community mobilisation were necessary to generate demand for health services and ensure the success of public health interventions.

“Advocacy and Social Communication are key in everything. If we want to create greater demand as far as health is concerned, we must improve our advocacy. We must mobilise people,” he said.

He stressed that ACSM activities could not succeed without the support of development partners, urging stakeholders to sustain their collaboration with healthcare workers.

The agency’s executive secretary also called for stronger cooperation between the state Ministry of Health and the Primary Health Care Development Agency, insisting that both institutions must work together to achieve improved health outcomes.

“ACSM activities will not succeed without the support of our partners. We must continue to engage with our clinical staff. The ministry and the agency must work together. There should be no dichotomy between the ministry and the agency,” Tukura said.

He urged stakeholders to strengthen advocacy, improve coordination and address challenges affecting community mobilisation to sustain progress in immunisation and other healthcare interventions.