By Musa Ubandawaki, Sokoto

SOKOTO — The Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency has intensified efforts to strengthen primary healthcare delivery and improve health outcomes across the state with a renewed community engagement drive targeting maternal mortality and low immunisation coverage.

The initiative featured an orientation and sensitisation workshop for Ward Development Committees (WDCs) on the European Union–supported SARAH Programme and Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA), held on Monday at Dankane Guest Palace.

The workshop brought together WDC chairmen, women leaders and other community stakeholders from all 23 local government areas of the state, with a focus on deepening grassroots participation in healthcare interventions.

Speaking at the event, Director of Advocacy and Social Mobilisation of the agency, Dahiru Muhammad Kamaru Gada, said the programme was designed to equip community leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to promote dialogue, strengthen trust, and remove barriers limiting access to essential healthcare services.

He explained that Ward Development Committees serve as a vital link between government health institutions and rural communities, making them central to the success of public health programmes.

“Our objective is to ensure that community representatives fully understand the importance of the SARAH and CEA initiatives so that they can return to their communities and enlighten residents on available health services and their benefits,” he said.

Gada added that the committees also play broader roles in sanitation, environmental health, education and other social development areas, describing them as key drivers of grassroots development.

He urged participants to intensify mobilisation efforts in their communities, particularly encouraging pregnant women to attend antenatal care services and deliver in health facilities under skilled medical supervision.

According to him, improved antenatal attendance and skilled birth delivery remain critical to reducing maternal and child mortality in the state.

He also noted that the sensitisation covered adolescent health and routine immunisation, with emphasis on preventing diseases such as tetanus and diphtheria, as well as promoting reproductive health awareness and personal hygiene among young people.

On security challenges affecting rural outreach, Gada said the agency had adopted a community-based approach, working closely with trusted local residents and health workers familiar with the terrain.

“We are working with people who live within these communities. They know the environment, they know the security realities and they enjoy the confidence of the people,” he said.

He disclosed that functional Ward Development Committees exist across all 244 wards in the state, comprising chairmen, vice chairmen, women leaders and other representatives who serve as mobilisers for healthcare programmes.

Also speaking, Chairman of the Sokoto State Ward Development Committees, Bala Gadanga, described the initiative as a major step toward strengthening community ownership of healthcare delivery.

He said WDC members would lead house-to-house mobilisation, track children who missed immunisation schedules, identify adolescents needing healthcare services, and refer pregnant women for antenatal and safe delivery care.

Gadanga added that the programme is expected to reduce maternal mortality and improve access to healthcare services for women, children and other vulnerable groups.

He stressed that the success of the intervention depends on active community participation and the effective cascading of knowledge gained from the workshop across local government areas and wards.

The initiative, he noted, also reflects a stronger push for gender inclusion, with women leaders participating from all wards to support sustainable healthcare improvements across Sokoto State.