Thirteenth Triennial Report on Vaccination in Bengal
for the years 1923-24, 1924-25 and 1925-26.
1. I have the honour to submit the
following Report on Vaccination in
Bengal for the triennial period from
1923-24 to 1925-26.
2. Dr. G. L. Batra, Assistant Direc-
tor of Public Health, was in charge of
the Vaccination and Vital Statistics
Bureau till the 3rd of May 1923, when
he was succeeded by Dr. B. B. Brahma-
chari, Assistant Director of Public
Health, Presidency Circle.
I returned
from leave on the 9th May 1924 and since
then have been in charge of the bureau.
3. Strength of Staff.—In Calcutta,
the average number of inspecting officers
and vaccinators employed during this
triennial period was 16 and 55 respec-
tively against 14 and 48 during the
previous triennium. In mufassal muni-
cipalities, dispensaries, etc., this average
was 5 and 147, and in rural areas 129
and 1,495 against 7 and 170, and 133
and 1,639 employed during the previous
triennium. Besides, an additional staff
of vaccinators was employed both in
Calcutta and in the rural areas to cope
with the quinquennial epidemic. The
incorporation of the Cossipur-Chitpur,
Mainktala and Garden Reach muni-
cipalities with the Calcutta
Cor-
poration accounted for the decrease
of the staff in the mufassal muni-
cipalities, while the introduction of
free vaccination system and consequent
appointment of paid vaccinators by the
District Boards in place of licensed ones
was the cause of falling off in the num-
ber of vaccinators employed in the rural
areas.
4. General Operations.—The total
number of operations reported to have
been performed in the province during
the year 1925-26 was 3,030,178 on
3,028,136 persons against 2,662,966 on
2,661,062 during the preceding year,
showing an increase of 367,212 or 13.8
per cent. operations. Of these, 1,751,091
or 57.8 per cent. were primary and
1,279,087 or 42.2 per cent. revaccinations
against
1,655,201
and
1,007,765
respectively
during
1924-25.
The
primary operations thus increased by
5.8 per cent. and revaccinations by 26.9
per cent. during the year under review.
The average number of operations per-
formed
during the triennium
was
2,583,623 with 1,665,623 primary and
918,000 revaccinations, the correspond-
ing figures for the previous triennial
period being 2,031,422, 1,404,324 and
627,098 respectively. There was thus an
increase of 552,201 operations on an
average during the present triennium,
made up of 261,299 primary operations
and 290,902 revaccinations. Severe out-
breaks of smallpox throughout the Presi-
dency and gradual introduction of free
vaccination combined with vigorous acti-
vities of the local bodies were principally
instrumental in augmenting the number
of operations performed during the
present triennium. The average rate of
success in primary and revaccinations
during the triennial period was 96.1 and
53.9 against 95.9 and 62.9 respectively
during the previous triennium.
The
average number of operations performed
by each vaccinator was 1,464 in the
present as compared with 1,089 during
the previous triennial period.
5. Vaccination in Districts.—Com-
pared with the previous year, there was
an increase in the number of total opera-
tions performed in 23 and a decrease in
four districts. The increase was most
marked
in Mymensingh
(64,771),
Burdwan (60,279), Noakhali (48,033),
Murshidabad
(41,777),
Darjeeling
(38,222), Rangpur (35,847), Midnapur
(34,789), Faridpur (29,948), Bankura
(27,450), 24-Parganas (excluding Cal-
cutta) (22,654), Bogra (21,334), Dinajpur
(20,434), Tippera (16,503), Pabna
(15,236),
Dacca
(12,678),
Nadia
(11,151), Chittagong (10,917), Birbhum
(9,194), Jalpaiguri (7,857), Howrah
(6,972) and Bakarganj (5,335), while in
the remaining two districts, Rajshahi and
the Chittagong Hill Tracts. it was below
5,000. Decreases occurred in Khulna
(7,187), Malda (2,642), Hooghly (971)
and
Jessore
(951). In
the
last
two, the reduction was insignificant,
while in Malda and Khulna, the stimulus
provided by the presence of smallpox in
an epidemic form was wanting.
So far as primary vaccination was
concerned, there was an increase in 19