2
RESOLUTION ON THE NOTES ON THE STATISTICS OF VACCINATION IN BURMA FOR THE YEAR 1897-98.
nate in the surrounding villages as before. In that case a part of his salary might
be contributed from Provincial funds. The Superintendent of Vaccination is re-
quested to make special enquiry regarding the Sandoway statistics. If the returns
are correct, it will be useful to learn how the Sandoway vaccinators contrive to
vaccinate on the average 7,000 persons in the year, the provincial average being
only about 2,500.
3. The staff of vaccinators in the Shan States was the same as in the pre-
vious year. In the Northern States there was a satisfactory increase in the
number of vaccinations, but the percentage of success continued to be very low
and the amount of checking was insufficient. An addition of two vaccinators
has lately been sanctioned for the Northern States. It is hoped that the
Civil Surgeon will be able to test a larger proportion of the work than in the past.
The large proportion of failures deserves the attention of the Superintendent of
Vaccination. It should be ascertained whether the lymph is properly kept at
Lashio. Vaccination work in the Southern States fell off owing to an out-
break of cholera.
4. The least satisfactory returns are those relating to the town of Rangoon.
The chief statistics of the past three years are as follows:—
Primary
vaccination.
Re-vaccination.
1895-96.
18,713
16,688
35,401
Primary
vaccination.
Re-vaccination.
1896-97.
15,054
5,593
20,647
Primary
vaccination.
Re-vaccination.
1897-98.
8,368
3,679
12,047
Up to August 1896 the law was, in the words of the Municipal President," illegally
supplemented by the subordinate officials of the Health Department employing
force to compel coolies to be vaccinated." The Superintendent of Vaccination does
not fully accept this explanation, remarking that the decline began from 1894-95,
during which year the number of vaccinations was 49,003. But that number appears
to have been unusually high. In 1893-94 the aggregate number was only 35,063.
While the President's account of the general decrease is doubtless correct, His
Honour cannot find any explanation of the large decrease in infant vaccinations as
mentioned in paragraph 19 of the report. There is no reason why the work of the
vaccinators in Rangoon should not keep pace with the accession to the population
by births. The large proportion of failures is also unsatisfactory, seeing that fresh
lymph is ready to hand. The recommendations of the Rangoon Municipal Com-
mittee for the compulsory vaccination of adults and the re-vaccination of all persons
after a term of years appeared to the Lieutenant-Governor to be unnecessarily
stringent. It is believed that the danger from coolie immigrants to Rangoon will
be sufficiently guarded against if power is taken to vaccinate unprotected persons
on board a ship on which small-pox has occurred and unprotected inmates of a
lodging-house or cooly barrack, and also to serve notice upon any unprotected
person to be vaccinated within seven days. Provision to this extent has accord-
ingly been made in the new Vaccination Bill, which it is intended to introduce at
the next meeting of the Legislative Council.