APPENDIX A.
Annual Vaccination Report by CAPTAIN E. WILKINSON, I.M.S., Deputy Sanitary Commissioner,
Punjab, for the year 1899-1900.
The appointment of the Deputy Sanitary Commissioner has been held by Captain
E. Wilkinson, I.M.S., throughout the year, but this officer was on three months' privilege
leave from November 4th. 1899, to February 4th, 1900, while his duties were carried on
by Lieutenant-Colonel C. J. Bamber, I.M.S., Sanitary Commissioner, Punjab, in addition
to his own.
The Deputy Sanitary Commissioner was employed on plague duty from July 19th
to August 18th, 1899, inclusive, and again from February 13th to the end of the year
under report.
The work of the Special Staff has been more satisfactory this year than it was last,
a larger number of vaccinations having been performed and a higher proportion of per-
centages of success attained. The increase in number of operations performed is confined
to primary vaccination, there having been a slight falling off in re-vaccinations as compar-
ed with the last year. The number of primary vaccinations performed during the year
was 75,273, the highest number yet recorded by the Special Staff. This is over 12,000 in
excess of the number of primary vaccinations performed in 1898-99. It also exceeds by
more than 3,000 the number of primary operations performed during 1897-98, when the
number of operations recorded exceeded by nearly 5,000 those of any previous years, and
when, as has been mentioned in previous reports, there were reasons for believing that the
vaccinators had exaggerated their returns. This year, however, I think, the returns are
fairly accurate. The decrease in re-vaccinations is but small, the number of operations
performed, 13,969, being only 773 less than that of last year. The subject of re-vaccina-
tion having been noticed at some length in my last year's report calls for no special
remark here. I attribute the increase in the amount of work done partly to the distribu-
tion of the vaccinators into two groups instead of into three as formerly.
There are only two Native Supervisors in the special staff, and consequently in for-
mer years one group of vaccinators was without direct supervision ; while now all the
vaccinators work directly under Native Supervisors. Besides this the large amount of
vaseline vaccine paste issued to the Special Staff has enabled the vaccinators to work more
quickly, and I think that a system I recently introduced requiring the vaccinators to sub-
mit their naqshas alif to me monthly has had beneficial results.
The vaccinators have worked in groups of pairs, i.e., all the vaccinators of a group
work in a zail, thus being in touch with their Native Supervisor, and in the zail two
vaccinators have worked together, this having been found the most economical way.
The quality of the work of the Special Staff, as judged by the percentages of suc-
cessful cases, has slightly improved, the total percentage of success being 82.64 as com-
pared with 82.58 of last year. This improvement is, however, confined to re-vaccinations,
of which the percentage of success has risen from 56.83 to 62.38, while the percentage
of successful primary vaccination has fallen from 88.68 to 86.40. The variations in these
figures have been due more to differences in the number of Operations whose results are
returned as unknown than to any real alteration in the quality of the work.
The Native Supervisors of the Special Staff have done much more work this year
than last, having made 32,884 inspections or 36.85 per cent. of the vaccinations performed
as compared with 17,289 inspections or 22.47 per cent. last year. The improvement is due
to the change in the staff. The vaccinators of the Special Staff have worked during
the year in the following localities having been employed as usual in the hills in the hot
weather and in the plains during the cold months : -Zafarwal, Nowshera, Abbottabad,
Jullundur, Phillour, Murree, Pesháwar, Mardán, Wazírabad, Fázilka, Thánesar, Dasúya,
Gurgáon, Rewári, Alipur and Jagádhri tahsils, and Kálka town and Mandi, Suket, Bushá-
hir Sirmoor, Ghomarsain and Keonthal States.
The average cost of each successful vaccination performed this year amounted to
annas three and pies ten, i.e., nine pies less than last year. The decrease in cost is prin-
cipally due to the larger number of operations performed.
There has also been a slight
decrease in expenditure from Rs. 18,043 to Rs. 17,750-3-2, which is mainly due to the
pay of the present Deputy Sanitary Commissioner being less than that of his predecessor.