Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency

02/02/2026

𝐏𝐀𝐍/𝐈𝐏𝐀 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐬–𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐇𝐂 𝐄𝐤𝐩𝐨 𝐀𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢, 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐫, 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞. ‎

‎On Monday, 2nd February 2026, the PAN/IPA Measles–Rubella (MR) Sensitization Outreach was successfully conducted at the Primary Healthcare Centre, Ekpo Abasi Mayne Avenue, Calabar, as part of preparations for the statewide Measles–Rubella vaccination rollout scheduled for 4th–15th February 2026 across Cross River State. The activity formed a critical component of community engagement ahead of the campaign, aimed at increasing awareness, trust, and uptake of routine immunization services.
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‎The sensitization session recorded an impressive turnout of over 200 participants, comprising caregivers, patients, healthcare providers, and community members. The interactive engagement was led by the State Team Lead and Immunization Champion, Dr. Vivien Mesembe Otu, Director-General, Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (CRSPHCDA). In her address, Dr. Otu clearly outlined the benefits, safety, and effectiveness of the Measles–Rubella vaccine, emphasizing its role in preventing childhood morbidity and mortality. She also spoke extensively on cervical cancer prevention, highlighting the importance and lifesaving potential of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for eligible populations.
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‎Participants actively engaged during the session, asking questions and expressing concerns, all of which were thoroughly addressed. Myths and misconceptions surrounding vaccines were dispelled, resulting in renewed confidence and trust in immunization services. Caregivers openly reassured the Immunization Champions of their readiness to present their children for vaccination during the scheduled MR campaign. A memorable highlight of the outreach was the distribution of diapers to mothers, a thoughtfulu gesture that further strengthened community goodwill and participation.
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‎The event was graced by distinguished stakeholders and partners, including the President of the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Cross River State, Dr. Funke Ebughe, Dr. (Mrs.) Eyong, a representative of the Traditional Council, and other Immunization Champions across Cross River State. Their presence reinforced the collective commitment of government, professional bodies, traditional institutions, and community advocates to advancing child health and disease prevention.
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‎Overall, the sensitization outreach at PHC Ekpo Abasi was a resounding success, reflecting the People First commitment of the Cross River State Government and setting a strong foundation for a successful Measles–Rubella vaccination rollout across the state.

01/02/2026

Happy New Month... I welcome you all to the month of February, 2026.

01/02/2026

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞.
𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 "𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕" 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚, 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑾𝑯𝑶 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑼𝑵𝑰𝑪𝑬𝑭, 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒔-𝑹𝒖𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂 𝑽𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒏 (𝑴𝑹𝑽).

𝑰𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔," 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐: ‎𝟏. 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑼𝒑: 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕. ‎𝟐. 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕: 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. ‎𝟑. 𝑺𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅: 𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆. ‎𝟒. 𝑪𝒐𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆: 𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔. ‎ ‎𝑳𝒆𝒕’𝒔 "𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓" 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑨 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘. ‎ ‎𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂.

‎ #𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚒𝚓𝚊

01/02/2026

CROSS RIVER STATE ROLLING THE CAMPAIGN ON MEASLES RUBELLA ACROSS THE STATE.

31/01/2026

Talking about the Measles Rubella Vaccine rollout with the Director General, Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency Dr. Vivien Mesembe Otu on CRBC Television.

31/01/2026

𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓: 𝑰𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝑰𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝑮 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚, 𝑫𝒓. 𝑽𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒏 𝑴𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆 𝑶𝒕𝒖, 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝑼𝑵𝑰𝑪𝑨𝑳 𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒔-𝑹𝒖𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂 (𝑴𝑹) 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝑹 𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒏."

29/01/2026

The 1st Quarter Meeting of the Cross River State Task Force on Primary Health Care Services. An interview with the DG CRSPHCDA, Dr. Vivien Mesembe Otu.

29/01/2026

29/01/2026

The 1st Quarter Meeting of the Cross River State Task Force on Primary Health Care Services

28/01/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬.

𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. ‎‎
𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒆: 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒙, 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒓.
𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒓: 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚, 𝑹𝒕. 𝑯𝒐𝒏. 𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑶𝒅𝒆𝒚, 𝑷𝒉𝑫 (𝑫𝒆𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒓).

‎Dr. (Mrs.) Vivien Mesembe Otu, Director General of the Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency (CRSPHCDA), opened the technical session with a comprehensive review of the state’s healthcare trajectory.

She highlighted a significant turnaround in immunization performance, noting that after an initial poor showing in the first round of the National Immunization Plus Day (NIPD), a restructured collective effort led to a 100% coverage rate in the second round, placing Cross River among the top-performing states in Nigeria.

‎Dr. Otu emphasized the critical upcoming Measles-Rubella Vaccine Introduction Campaign (MRV), scheduled for February 4–15, targeting children aged 9 months to 14 years. She underscored the necessity of this campaign due to rising cases of congenital malformations, blindness, and deafness linked to Rubella.
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‎ɪɴꜰʀᴀꜱᴛʀᴜᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴀᴄɪʟɪᴛʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴛᴀʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

‎The DG provided a status report on the revitalization of 93 basic healthcare facilities across the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs). While 80% progress has been recorded in most sites (funded by IMPACT support, National, and State governments), Dr. Otu flagged concerns regarding lagging projects in the Northern District. She specifically noted that disputes over fencing and the relocation of staff quarters have stalled progress in certain areas.
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‎Furthermore, she announced the expansion of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) to include 146 additional facilities. Crucially, she informed stakeholders that funding is now strictly performance-based, tied to metrics such as antenatal attendance, facility-based deliveries, and immunization rates.
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‎ᴀᴅᴍɪɴɪꜱᴛʀᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ ʀᴇꜰᴏʀᴍꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ʀᴇꜱᴏᴜʀᴄᴇꜱ
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‎To address insubordination and poor performance, the CRSPHCDA has initiated a strategic reshuffling of Directors. With seven directors retiring within the next six months, new appointments have been made based on seniority and merit. Dr. Otu also introduced a community engagement pilot in Abi Local Government, which will utilize community-based health workers and volunteers to identify and engage non-compliant clients, such as pregnant women not accessing prenatal care.
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‎ᴋᴇʏɴᴏᴛᴇ ᴀᴅᴅʀᴇꜱꜱ: ᴛʜᴇ "ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ" ᴍᴀɴᴅᴀᴛᴇ
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‎His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Peter Odey, PhD, Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Task Force, commended the Agency and its partners for aligning with the "People First" agenda of Governor Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu. He emphasized that Cross River is among the first states to implement a health insurance policy to provide affordable care.
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‎The Deputy Governor called for improved synergy between health agencies and local government councils, urging chairmen to release operational resources and cease interference in staff postings. He also praised public-spirited individuals for enrolling vulnerable constituents into the health insurance scheme.
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‎ɢᴏᴠᴇʀɴᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛᴀʙɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴄʜᴀʟʟᴇɴɢᴇꜱ
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‎The meeting addressed several critical operational hurdles:
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‎1. Integration: The state is still working toward achieving "Primary Healthcare Under One Roof," a necessary step to unlock further national funding and leadership challenges.
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ʜᴏɴ. ᴄᴏᴍᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘᴀʀᴛɴᴇʀ ɢᴏᴏᴅᴡɪʟʟ
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‎The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, welcomed participants and urged meaningful contributions to ensure a sustainable path for the well-being of Cross Riverians.
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‎Representatives from development partners—including NPHCDA, WHO, UNICEF, IVAC, IMPACT, AFENET, and CHAN—commended the state’s leadership. They expressed optimism that the enabling environment created by the current administration would lead to impressive coverage during the upcoming MRV campaign.
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‎ᴄᴏɴᴄʟᴜꜱɪᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀʏ ꜰᴏʀᴡᴀʀᴅ
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‎While Cross River State has made notable strides in immunization and infrastructure, the Task Force concluded that success depends on:

‎1. Strict Adherence to Agency Protocols: Ending unauthorized staff movements at the LGA level.
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‎2. Performance Improvement: Enhancing service delivery at the facility level to secure continued funding.
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‎3. Community Sensitization: Leveraging high-profile support to boost public trust in upcoming health campaigns.
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‎The meeting adjourned with a collective commitment to bridging funding gaps and ensuring that primary healthcare remains accessible to all residents of Cross River State.
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18/01/2026

18/01/2026

MEASLES RUBELLA CAMPAIGN