ix
APPENDIX A.
The Annual Vaccination Report of the Special Staff for the year 1895-96 by Surgeon-
Captain C. H. JAMES, Deputy Sanitary Commissioner, Punjab.
The Deputy Sanitary
Commissioners.
The office of Deputy Sanitary Commissioner was held by Surgeon-Captain
H. J. Dyson from the beginning of the vaccination year (April
1st) to August 14th, 1895, and by Surgeon-Major O'Dwyer from
August 15th to October 6th. I relieved Dr. O'Dwyer on October
7th, and have held charge since that date.
Work done by the Special
Staff Vaccinators.
2. The Special Staff Vaccinators performed 79,305 vaccinations during the year
1895-96. Of this number 61,708 were primary operations and
17,597 were re-vaccinations. There is a decrease of 3,930 on the
total number of vaccinations performed in the previous year,
when 83,235 people were vaccinated by the Special Staff. The
decrease is entirely in re-vaccinations. Last year 24,657 re-vaccinations were done as
against 17,597 this year, a decrease of 7,060. On the other hand, the primary vaccinations
have risen from 58,578 last year to 61,708 this year, an increase of 3,130. This is the largest
number of primary operations ever done by the Special Staff. The falling-off of re-vac-
cinations is due to the " stringent orders ' issued by my predecessor against indiscriminate
re-vaccinations.* He found that a large number of unnecessary re-vaccinations were being
performed in order to swell the numbers in the returns. The orders given had such an
effect on the Vaccinators that, at one time, I found they were doing no re-vaccinations at
all. In fact, they ran from one extreme to the other. They were, therefore, directed to
re-vaccinate wherever it was necessary, and reminded of the Lieutenant-Governor's order
that a second vaccination was permitted seven years after the first.†
Medical Officers of—
Pesháwar
Ráwalpindi.
Mardán.
Ludhiána
Murree.
Kasauli.
There have been other factors at work this year which have prevented the Special
Staff Vaccinators from doing as many vaccinations as in other years. Small-pox has been
prevalent, and this has had a tendency to cause more people to be vaccinated, but, on the
other hand, it has caused my Vaccinators to be moved about so much that they have not
been able to work on the systematic plan adopted in other years. It will be seen, on
reference to the Report of last year, that the districts in which they worked during
the winter months were arranged in three groups, the tahsíls and districts composing
them being placed close together, so that when the Vaccinators had finished working in
one locality, they had only to go to the adjoining one to continue the work. In this way
as much travelling and delay as possible were avoided. This year, although an attempt
was at first made to do certain districts in a given order, so as to economise time and
travelling, so many unexpected calls were made on the Staff from other places where
small-pox had broken out, that in the end the original plan had to be given up and the
Vaccinators were sent wherever it seemed likely that they would do most good. In some
cases they left, districts to cope with outbreaks of disease, and returned again, after work-
ing in the new districts, to finish the work in the former one. This consequently made
breaks in the work and increased the travelling expenses of the Staff, but; this was more
than compensated for by the fact that the men worked in places where their services were
most required. In the Wazírabad tahsíl I found so much small-pox that I sent the Vaccina-
tors through the talisíl a second time, to ensure as complete vaccination as possible, although
the men did a much smaller number than they would have done had they been working
in a new tahsíl. In the Fázilka tahsíl I also sent a Vaccinator back to go over the villages
again as I was not satisfied that all the people were sufficiently protected. This is one
of the places in which the Vaccinators at first did no re-vaccinations. In consequence of
the changes mentioned above, the Palwal tahsíl, which had been put aside for the Special
Staff, was returned to the District Staff for vaccination by the Sanitary Commissioner who
saw that my men had as much work as they could possibly get through. One of the
chief reasons for the creation of the Special Staff was that they would be a reserve to
assist the District Staff especially in times of epidemics.
This year no less than six Civil Surgeons and Medical
Officers (named in the margin) have applied for and
obtained the services of the Special Staff to supplement
the work done by their own men, thus showing how neces-
sary such a staff is in times of epidemics. In most cases the Vaccinators so obtained did
a smaller number of vaccinations than they would otherwise have done; but this was
probably due to the fact that the Civil Surgeons sent their own men, whom they knew
and trusted, to do the bulk of the work, and used my men to supplement the work in less
populous districts. In the Hashtnagar (Pesháwar) and Sawábi (Mardán) tahsíls, the
Vaccinators sent were able to do only a small number of vaccinations, as they had no
knowledge of Pashtu. This is the first time for some years they have been required for
these districts. I had no Pashtu-speaking men to send. In one case a Civil Surgeon sent
* Annual Vaccination Report, 1894-95.
† Annual Vaccination Reports, 1891-92 and 1892-93.