2
Eastern Bengal again formed a part of old Bengal, and also with the
appointment of additional Deputy Sanitary Commissioners. I believe and
recent enquires also show, that the large vaccination figures that were
returned previously, were mostly fictitious.
Primary Vaccination (Rural Areas).
Dacca ... ...
Mymensiugh ... ...
Faridpur ... ...
Bakarganj ... ...
Chittagong ... ...
Noakhali ... ...
Tippera ... ...
1910-11.
102,047
107,610
126,706
104,818
58,619
60,107
94,905
1911-12.
98,881
173,187
132,281
131,468
73,382
72,902
109,376
1912-13.
102,418
171,568
121,029
118,937
83,936
75,387
118,719
1913-14.
91,257
169,317
81,628
47,920
66,996
60,689
108,123
1914-15.
56,286
87,370
32,593
55,968
51,389
41,090
51,842
It will be seen that Bakarganj alone shows some increase and this was
solely due to the thorough inspection of the district by the Deputy Sanitary
Commissioner during the cold weather of 1913-14 and the measures taken to
prevent the falsification of vaccination returns that was going on there before,
as stated in last year's report. Even here, there was a sudden drop in the
figures from 118,937 in 1912-13 to 47,920 in 1913-14, this being about normal.
Recent inspections in the district of Tippera by the Deputy Sanitary Com-
missioner and in Midnapore by the Civil Surgeon and myself show that
vaccination affairs here are almost as bad as it was in Bakarganj. The
large reduction in Mymensingh, Faridpur, Dacca, Noakhali and Chittagong
is chiefly due to the fact that the disclosures in Bakarganj and Tippera
have struck terror into the hearts of the subordinate vaccination staff who
are beginning to return what seem to be correct figures. Enquiries are still
being made to find out the extent to which the practice of falsifying returns
obtains in the other Eastern Bengal districts and the offenders whenever
detected are being severely dealt with. The decrease noticed in the case of
Rangpur, Jessore and a few other districts is reported to be due to a large
extent to the severe prevalence of malarial fever that not only disabled a
large number of vaccinators but also greatly hampered the progress of work
among a debilitated people. The fall in the prices of jute also somewhat
interfered with vaccination in the jute-growing districts.
To remedy the evils noted above and improve matters in the Eastern
Bengal districts, an energetic officer with great experience in this particular
kind of work has been specially appointed towards the close of the year He
will for the present tour in Barisal and one or two other districts, carefully
check the returns submitted by the vaccinators, report all deficiencies on
their part as well as on that of the subordinate inspecting staff, and will also
tactfully try to overcome all opposition to vaccination and to the payment of
the vaccinators' fees. Civil Surgeons have also been requested to scrutinise
all vaccination returns most carefully before submitting them to this office,
and whenever possible to verify the entries in the course of their inspec-
tion tours. Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors of vaccination also have been
ordered to look more to the quality than to the quantity of work performed,
and to inspect the work of each vaccinator at least twice during the season.
Much good is expected from these measures, especially in the Dacca and
Chittagong Divisions, where the Deputy Sanitary Commissioner is able to
devote much of his time to the question of vaccination. In the other
divisions, owing to the war, the Deputy Sanitary Commissioners have either
been entirely withdrawn or have been given other duties to perform ; and it
is feared that the work of vaccination will suffer in consequence.
The number of revaccinations during the year was unusually large
owing to the severe prevalence of smallpox in many parts of the Presi-
dency. Calcutta stands first in this respect with 82,894 revaccinations
and is followed by 24-Parganas with 81,543, Midnapore with 79,747 and
Mymensingh with 29,678. In this connection, it may be noted that in the
district of 24-Parganas 58,534 revaccinations and 13,459 primary operations