REPORT ON VACCINATION IN THE MADRAS
PRESIDENCY FOR THE TRIENNIUM
ENDING 1928-29.
1. The proposal for the transference of the administration of vaccination
from the taluk and union boards to the district board which has been urged in
the Vaccination Reports of the last six years has, according to the suggestion in
G.O. No. 1415, P.H., dated 13th August 1926, been included in the draft amend
ments to the Local Boards Act. It is hoped that these amendments including the
one relating to vaccination will be passed into law at an early date.
2. Glycerine lymph was used throughout the triennium under report, and
the results obtained have been quite satisfactory.
3. The suspension of routine vaccination work was, as in previous years,
utilized by the health staffs for intensive investigation of vital statistics and the
detection of unprotected cases. During the triennium, about 2.5 lakhs of un
registered births and nearly a million unprotected cases were discovered. Of
these, the detections during 1928-29 amounted approximately to 77,000 births
and 316,000 unprotected cases. The districts from which large numbers of
unregistered events were reported were Coimbatore (about 40,000), Tanjore
(31,000), East Gōdāvari (22,500), Madura (22,000), Ganjām (20,000), Vizaga-
patam, Tinnevelly, North Arcot, Gōdāvari, West and Nellore (15,000 to 19,000)
and Malabar, South Kanara and Bellary (11,000 to 14,500). These figures are
evidence of the grave deficiencies in registration, the rectification of which
demands the urgent attention of the district revenue authorities.
In spite of repeated instructions, a few local bodies are still in the habit of
granting leave to their vaccinators during the off-season without appointing substi
tutes. As this seriously interferes with the detection of unprotected cases and
prejudices the conduct of vaccination in the subsequent months, Government are
requested to advise the local bodies to stop the above practice.
4. Although the administration of vaccination is a statutory duty of the
union boards, it is to be regretted that, notwithstanding the criticisms in the
annual vaccination reports, it continues to be extremely unsatisfactory. The
reluctance of the boards to have anything to do with vaccination administration
manifests itself either in failure to maintain the unprotected register or in
keeping it so badly that the register is practically useless, or in failing to issue
notices in time for the collection and inspection of children or in omission to
render assistance to the vaccination staffs during their visits. As a result of the
progressive deterioration in the condition of vaccination and the refractoriness of
the majority of union boards to suggestions and criticisms, there is a consensus
of opinion among the District Health Officers that the administration of vaccina
tion in unions should be retransferred from the union boards to the village
headmen; as a matter of fact, this has already been done in a few instances, e.g.,
Tinnevelly. In the interests of efficiency, it is strongly urged, that pending the
passing into law of the proposed amendment for the transference of administration
of vaccination in rural areas from the taluk and union boards to the district
board, the village headmen should be made responsible for vaccination
administration in unions.
5. Although it is not denied that with the co-operation of the revenue
authorities great improvement has been effected in the notification of epidemic
diseases including smallpox, instances of failure to report or of great delay in
intimating occurrence of the disease continue to be reported. For example, in
Kistna District, the District Health Officer has brought to the notice of the
Revenue authorities serious irregularities in the notification of the disease; the