5
work was found to have attained a reasonable standard. In every case, full
consideration has been given to long service, improvement in work after refresher
courses of training, etc., before exemption was finally refused and before Presi
dents of Taluk Boards were informed that further employment of the individuals
concerned would result in the surcharge of their salaries. These efforts of the
Public Health Department to effect much-to-be-desired improvements have,
unfortunately, been frequently misunderstood by local bodies, and the extreme
step of refusing further exemption to unqualified vaccinators has, therefore, been
adopted only when other methods have failed to effect the desired result.
12. Vaccination is now compulsory in the districts of West Gōdāvari, Kistna,
Nellore, Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Rāmnād, South Kanara, South Arcot (except in
the hill villages of Kallakurichi taluk), and, in all villages with a population of
over 1,000, in Bellary district. In view of the fact that smallpox still appears
from time to time in epidemic form in most districts, it is eminently desirable
that vaccination should be declared compulsory throughout the Presidency. For
the benefit of those local boards who are prepared to accept this suggestion, it
may be stated that the procedure to be followed is laid down in G.O. No. 1257,
dated 9th August 1922.
Where vaccination is compulsory, the regulations require enforcement, but in
this respect many local boards are reluctant to take action. In Kandukur taluk
of Nellore district, for instance, a list of 243 defaulters was prepared by the
District Health Officer, but not a single prosecution was sanctioned. Similarly,
in Pattukottai and Arantangi taluks, the Presidents of the local boards refused
to sanction any prosecutions out of the large numbers recommended by the
District Health Officer, whilst the President of Tanjore Taluk Board sanctioned
only 5 out of 70 cases. The Taluk Boards of Tadpatri, Calicut, Melur and every
local board in Bellary and Kurnool districts consistently refuse to sanction any
prosecutions. It is in this connexion that delegation of powers to District Health
Officers is required, if progress is to be made in vaccination work. There need
be no fear that the delegated authority will be utilized to harass any person
unnecessarily. In the Taluk Board areas of Puttur, Berhampore, Bapatla, Guru-
zala and Ongole, where delegation of powers has been granted to the District
Health Officers, experience has shown that the desired results can be obtained by
judicious selection of cases for prosecution and that the delegated authority is
used most sparingly.
13. The District Health Officer, South Kanara, reports that magistrates
ordinarily treat vaccination offences in a light hearted manner and inflict only
petty fines of two to four annas. Punishments of this nature have no deterrent
effect, and the attention of Collectors might well be invited to the point.
14. Extended application of Act III of 1899 has been constantly urged in
successive Sanitary and Vaccination Annual Reports. The fact that large
numbers of unrecorded births and deaths continue to be detected year after year
by the health staffs emphasises the strong need for the early extension of this
measure throughout the Presidency. In Madura and South Arcot districts, the
Act has now been made applicable practically to every village.
15. The anti-vaccination campaign in Tanjore District, mentioned in last
year's report, has developed in its intensity and has now spread to South Kanara,
Bellary and Chingleput. In the municipalities of Tinnevelly, Trichinopoly,
Palghat and Cocanada, also, a few misguided individuals have attempted to carry
on propaganda of the same pernicious type. In spite of their efforts, however,
the total number of vaccination operations has again appreciably increased.
16. In order to avoid the inconvenience caused by delay in the supply of
vaccinators' equipment and to ensure that the articles supplied are of a proper
standard, it was suggested to Presidents of Local Boards and Chairmen of
Municipal Councils that their Health Officers should be permitted, by means of
imprests, to maintain stocks of the necessary articles. The proposal was
generally accepted, and complaints as to quality are now rarely received.
2