9
8. Vaccinations performed by other
agencies.—The comparative statement
below shows the number of vaccinations
performed by other agencies :—
Agencies.
Tea gardens ..
Factories ..
Railways ..
Steamers* ..
Dispensaries ..
Jails ..
Total ..
Primary
vaccinations.
1926-27.
5,203
8,605
1,424
..
15
275
15,552
1927-28
11,560
7,303
2,746
..
..
323
21,938
In-
crease +
or de-
crease
—.
+
—
+
—
—
+
Re-vaccinations.
1920-27.
2,349
28,742
8,139
9,534
16
32,565
81,345
1927-28.
13,957
9,038
27,220
2,391
..
32,791
85,397
In-
crease+
or de-
crease
—.
+
—
+
— —
+
* No return received from the British India Steam Navigation
Company, Limited.
9. Protection afforded to infants.—
(a) Provincial statement A appended to
this Report shows that 261.4 infants per
1,000 of the surviving population under
one year of age available for vaccination,
were vaccinated successfully during the
year under review compared with 273.4
in the previous year. In rural
circles
this proportion was 246.7 and in mufas-
sal municipalities 511.7 against 249.7
and
589.2 respectively in 1926-27.
There was thus a decrease all round
especially in Calcutta where it fell from
1,664.7 in 1926-27 to 856.8 in 1927-28.
(b) The degree of protection afforded
to infants per 1,000 of the surviving
population in the following districts is
ridiculous:—
Districts.
Bakarganj ..
Faridpur ..
Mymensingh ..
Dacca ..
Bogra ..
1923-24.
23.9
35.8
110.1
78.9
137.6
1924-25.
45.2
61.3
94.1
124.2
141.3
1925-20.
27.8
96.7
100.2
125.1
82.3
1926-27.
33.4
125.4
100.9
168.07
77.3
1927-28
41.2
77.9
95.6
115.3
137.1
Thirteen of the rural circles recorded a
rise in their successful vaccination of
infants compared with the previous year
but this was outnumbered by a decrease
in the remaining 14. This decrease was
most marked in Malda, Darjeeling,
Chittagong Hill Tracts and Rajshahi
It will be interesting to note the number
of primary vaccinations in some of those
districts which show a diminished rate
of protection (vide subjoined statement).
Rural Circles.
Asansol Mining Settle-
ment.
Hooghly ..
Jessore ..
Rajshahi ..
Darjeeling ..
Pabna ..
Malda ..
Dacca ..
Mymensingh ..
Chittagong Hill Tracts
Primary
Vaccinations.
1926-27.
16,736
20,876
47,505
41,992
10,392
77,275
32,312
131,199
256,094
6,810
1927-28.
13,142
19,862
42,951
40,740
8,566
74,301
27,467
106,214
240,839
6,242
Increase+
or
decrease —.
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Surviving
available popula-
tion of infants.
1926-27.
7,525
17,622
41,638
34,622
7,280
25,753
25,246
62,673
90,847
3,815
1927-28.
6,917
17,804
34,183
37,941
7,347
28,409
27,645
69,989
97,504
3,944
Increase+
or
decrease —.
—
+
—
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Number sucess¬
fully
vaccinated.
1926-27.
7,200
3,940
7,198
22,653
4,384
7,976
19,784
10,534
9,172
1,115
1927-28.
5,479
2,801
11,421
18,482
2,973
9,248
13,246
8,096
9,328
545
Increase
+ or
decrease.
—.
—
—
+
—
—
+
—
—
+
—
The following points are worthy of note
in this connection :—
(a) In all these rural areas, except
Malda, the number of primary vaccina-
tions is far in excess of the surviving
population of infants, especially in
Mymensingh, Pabna and Dacca. This
is explained by vaccination much delay-
ed beyond the age prescribed by law for
primary vaccination.
(b) In six of these areas, although the
surviving population exceeded that of the
previous year, the number of those suc-
cessfully vaccinated showed a compara-
tive decline, possibly because the total
number of such vaccinations decreased.
In view of the low degree of protection as
shown in the subjoined table the ex-
planation of some of the District Health
Officers as to the reduction in the number
of primary vaccination in their districts
being due to the paucity of unprotected
children is untenable. Now that the
Births and Deaths Registration Act has
been applied to all these areas except
the Chittagong Hill Tracts, it is ex-
pected that there will be a decided im-
provement in this direction.
(c) Turning to municipalities, it may
be incidentally mentioned that a compa-
rison of the last three years' figures show
a gradual decrease in the number of
operations and in the degree of protection
afforded to infants.
(d) Looking at the proportion of avail-
able infants successfully vaccinated as a
whole, the low rate of protection afforded
cannot be looked upon with complacency
and it is high time that the local bodies
should fully realise their responsibilities
in this matter.
10. Linear method of Vaccination.—
Opinions differ as to the success obtained
in Bengal with this new method of per-
forming the vaccination
operation.
The District Health Officer, Malda,
3