2
RESOLUTION ON THE NOTES ON THE STATISTICS OF VACCINATION IN BURMA FOR THE YEAR 1894-95.
There is no apparent reason why the difference in the work done by the vacci-
nators of different districts should be so marked as in the above cases. The cost
of the Vaccination Department was Rs. 36,841 or Rs. 3,451 more than in 1893-94,
and the average cost of each successful case was 3 annas 7 pies as compared with
3 annas 9 pies in the previous year. The average cost was lowest in the Sando-
way and Henzada districts, where it did not exceed 1½ annas and highest in the
Akyab district, where it was over 7 annas. The Superintendent observes that
although the Akyab total was less than half what it had been in 1893-94, it was
still very high, and in this opinion the Chief Commissioner concurs. The high
cost of vaccination at Akyab was due to expenditure incurred in connection with
the maintenance of the calf depôt. The figures showing particulars of verifications
performed are on the whole satisfactory. Outside Rangoon 31,760 cases are
shown as having been inspected by Civil Surgeons and 30,704 by other inspecting
officers. Statement No. V appended to the report is, however, not quite complete,
and it is impossible to usefully compare the inspection work performed during the
year of report as a whole with that performed in the previous year. It is clear,
however, from what figures have been supplied that in the Arakan division generally
the amount of verification done by Civil Surgeons is less than it ought to and might
have been. The largest amount of verification was performed at Henzada by the
Civil Surgeon, who inspected 4,342 cases. A number almost as large was verified
in the Tharrawaddy district by the Civil Surgeon. The Municipalities of Kyauk-
pyu, Myaungmya, Ramree, Zalun, and Kyangin were brought under the operation
of the Vaccination Act during the year.
Upper Burma.
2. The total number of persons vaccinated in Upper Burma was 114,863
as compared with 98,726 in 1893-94. This increase
was shared by all the districts of Upper Burma save
those of Mandalay, the Upper Chindwin, Pakôkku, Yamèthin, and Myingyan, and
in none of these districts except Yamèthin was the decrease on the figures of the
previous year very marked. At Yamèthin the diminution is said to be due not
to inefficiency in the vaccination staff alone, but also to failure on the part of the
people to avail themselves of the benefits of vaccination. This neglect the
Superintendent of Vaccination attributes to the freedom from small-pox enjoyed
by this district during the year. It is a matter for regret that immunity from
disease should tend to lower the importance of vaccination in the eyes of the rural
population. It is the duty of the Civil Surgeon of each district to see that no
pains are spared to show the people the folly of neglecting to take due precau-
tions to protect themselves even when the necessity for those precautions is not
obviously pressing. The diminution at Yamèthin and Myingyan had the result of
reducing the total number of vaccinations for the Eastern division from 23,036 to
21,420. In the other three divisions the total number of vaccinations was higher
than in the previous year. The largest increases on the figures for 1893-94
were apparent in the districts of Shwebo, Sagaing, and the Lower Chindwin.
The percentages of success in the case of primary vaccinations rose during the
year from 86.35 to 88.91 and in the case of secondary vaccinations from 44.73
to 45.59. Success was on the whole least marked in the more remote and in-
accessible portions of the upper province, where for the most part communication
is far from easy and difficulty is experienced in maintaining a constant supply
of good lymph. A notable exception to this rule was, however, furnished by