40
To meet the demand for inoculation in rural areas the number of Medical Officers
and Assistant Surgeons which could be spared without disturbing the ordinary medical
arrangements of the Province was 38. Of these 10 were officers of the Indian Medical
Service, 5 of whom had been recently deputed to the Punjab for plague duty, 8 temporary
Medical Officers, 3 Military Assistant Surgeons, 6 permanent Civil Assistant Surgeons,
and 11 temporary Civil Assistant Surgeons ; 2 of the last, however, were only expected to be
able to do half the work of the others : the number of Assistant Surgeons of this class was
equivalent therefore to only 10 full-time inoculators.
The total number of full-time inoculators in the Punjab who could be provided from
the Punjab establishment thus amounted to 37, leaving a balance of 40 to be supplied
from elsewhere.
The help rendered in the past by Medical Missionaries as well as communications
between the representatives of Missionary Societies and the Punjab Government afforded
a considerable assurance that the help to be expected from this source would be
equivalent to the work of 3 full-time inoculators.
In order to supply the deficiency 37 Medical Officers were still required, while, in
order to permit of the formation of a reserve and to provide for the assistance required in
towns, it was considered that 5 additional officers would be required. It was considered
desirable that the operations in each district should be in charge of an Indian Medical
Service Officer, and as there were only 10 such officers available, it would be necessary
to ask for the services of 5 others. With regard to the supply of the 37 operators
still required, it was deemed advisable that these should be Europeans, as the people had
always shown more readiness to accept inoculation at the hands of European Medical
Officers than at those of their fellow-countrymen.
As enquiry had shown that the supply of Medical Officers of the class desired was
exhausted in India, the only alternative was to endeavour to obtain them from England : it
was therefore considered necessary to try and obtain 37 medical practitioners from England.
It was recognised that these gentlemen would be at a disadvantage from the want of
acquaintance with the language of the people among whom they would be required to work as
well as with their customs and prejudices : it was therefore arranged to attach a Náib
Tahsíldár to each of these officers to act as an interpretor and Personal Assistant.
Establishment.
63. In estimating the establishment required it was considered necessary that each
inoculator in rural areas should have a com-
pounder to assist him in filling syringes and in
looking after instruments, as well as at least two clerks, and probably more, for maintaining
records and filling in certificates, also a chaprási and a khalási.
It was thought that in towns the duties of compounder could be discharged by those
attached to dispensaries, but that clerks would be required to maintain records ; chaprásís
and khalásis would however not be required.
Equipment.
Camp equipage.
64. As operators would have to work in rural areas often far from any accommodation
suitable for Europeans and often too among
plague-infected villages, it was considered
necessary to provide every officer and his
establishment with tents and camp equipage, this including in the case of officers both tents
and funiture, and in the case of the medical practitioners whom it was proposed to obtain
from England with cooking utensils, crockery, cutlery, glasses and table linen.
Apparatus.
In order to permit of the inoculation of large numbers of persons quickly as well as
safely, it was considered necessary to make
the equipment of each inoculator as complete
as possible, and as they in rural areas would be constantly travelling, it was necessary that
this equipment should be strong and compact. Thus, it may be mentioned here, it was
thought necessary to provide each operator with five inoculation syringes and to have them
with all other instruments all packed in specially made boxes.
The cost of the undertaking.
65. It will not be necessary in this report to do more than refer to the main
heads of expenditure for which it was neces-
sary to estimate in connection with the
scheme of inoculation operations, and it may be stated here that it was not intended that
the scheme should be accompanied by any diminished attention to other measures for dealing
with plague ; moreover, as even without any special arrangements it was to be expected that
considerable expenditure would be incurred on inoculation in the ensuing cold weather,
the estimated amount of this expenditure should be deducted in calculating the extra cost
of the proposed scheme.