30
ABSTRACTS OF REPORTS BY CIVIL SURGEONS.
BHAGULPORE DIVISION.
Proceedings of the
permanent staff.
Monghyr District.—The regular staff employed during the year is the same in all
respects as that of the previous year. The Khurruckpore vaccinators did not work at all well,
and were in consequence discharged. Work has been carried on as formerly—in a somewhat
desultory and indefinite manner—over a large area, and is less than that of the previous
year. There is no great opposition experienced in the district, but in the town it is difficult
to persuade the well-to-do people to adopt vaccination.
Ex-inoculators.
Work done by
them.
In addition to the permanent paid establishment, there were 159 ex-inoculators at work
during the year, against 134 in the previous year. By this agency 13,525 (against 12,964)
vaccinations were performed. The Civil Surgeon reports—
Remuneration.
These men are not made to work in any defined area, but each man goes and works in the villages
where he is known, and where he and his people before him have been recognized as the proper practitioners
of inoculation. These men receive no pay, but the sum of Rs. 120, all the aid that Government grants
towards the vaccination of the district, is divided among them as far as it will go.
Inspection.
Necessity of
remuneration and
inspection.
The Civil Surgeon personally inspected some of the work of these men, and was satisfied
with the result. He also deputed a trustworthy vaccinator to go on an inspection tour into
the district. The man visited 59 different villages, and saw 1,912 recent vaccinations.
Dr. Nicholson considers it necessary to give these men some remuneration, say Rs. 2 per hundred
successful cases, otherwise they will either not come forward, or practise inoculation
clandestinely, for they find it difficult to realize fees for vaccinating. He also attaches
very great importance to systematic supervision, and asks for an Inspector on Rs. 18 during
the vaccinating season, and Rs. 9 during the recess. Rs. 500 would, he thinks, suffice for one
season's work. Now that the movement has lived and progressed so far, he hopes that it will
not be allowed to die for want of a little timely support. In this the Magistrate agrees with
the Civil Surgeon.
Failure of lymph
supply
Difficulty in
obtaining
vaccinators.
Bhagulpore.—The Civil Surgeon reports that in consequence of the failure of the earlier
supplies of lymph, it was not till the second week in January that vaccination was fairly estab-
lished in this district. Great difficulty was also experienced in obtaining competent vaccin-
ators. The Civil Surgeon adds—
The fact is, the work is excessively irksome and laborious, and distasteful to persons who can obtain
other employment, the reasons being—too large extent of the town (covering 25 square miles), the long
distances to be travelled in search of children to vaccinate, the stubborn, passive resistance of the people
to the process, and the difficulty in persuading them to permit the performance of the operation on their
children.
Converted
inoculators.
Three men were eventually employed; one was taken ill and discontinued work in the first
week of March, and another remained but a short time and scarcely did anything. In addition
to these, eight men of the inoculator class were employed in the town, who however vaccinated
on an average only 33 each. Regarding vaccination at the outlying dispensaries, Dr. Bailie
writes—
At the minor dispensaries little or nothing has been done, and the officers in charge have not shown
any inclination to exert themselves whatever. So apathetic indeed do they appear to be in the matter, that
I found it necessary to draw their attention to the subject in a strong remonstrance, which I hope will have
good effect in future years.
Dr. Bailie makes a very favourable report on the work of ex-inoculators. One hundred
and sixty-seven of these men, furnished with licences and lymph, vaccinated 7,989 persons.
The Civil Surgeon and Assistant Surgeon inspected some cases in the Sudder sub-division, and
found the result satisfactory. The men use lymph preserved between glasses now instead of
crusts, and arm-to-arm vaccination is gaining ground. Dr. Bailie mentions the name of
Baboo Beny Lall Sing, zemindar of Nusratkhani, as having aided and encouraged vaccination.
The only element wanting to complete the system of self-supporting vaccination which
has sprung up in the district is systematic inspection, and the Civil Surgeon strongly
recommends the appointment of a vaccine inspector.
Municipal
vaccinator.
Inspection.
Purneah District.—One public vaccinator was employed throughout the year. As suffi-
cient work cannot be found for him within municipal limits, his services are utilized in
a general way during the occurrence of outbreaks, and in and about indigo factories.
Inspections were frequent. Dr. Picachy reports that vaccination is unpopular among the
higher classes, and through them among the lower orders too :—
Inoculation.
Inoculators.
Inoculation, though not penal here, seems notwithstanding to have established a sort of fear among
inoculators, that their work could not be carried on with impunity. Hence applications for vaccine
crusts and lymph were made by fifteen of them, against nineteen in the previous year. They are
required to bring a certificate of character from the police thana where they lived, and to send in a
simple return. Ten of the fifteen submitted returns.
There were no serious outbreaks of small-pox during the year.
Self-supporting
vaccination.
Dr. Picachy makes the following suggestions on "the self-supporting" system of
vaccination:—
If vaccination were popular, the imposition of a small payment per head would easily cover the cost of
vaccinators, but as it is ordinarily the reverse, the municipalities might continue to bear the burden in pro-
portion to their requirements; and in districts where inoculation is penal, mohullahs and totahs may be
taxed at the rate of 25 per cent. of their population.