RESOLUTION ON NOTES ON THE STATISTICS OF VACCINATION IN BURMA FOR THE YEAR 1899-1900.
3
seems clear that more native Superintendents are required. In Lower Burma there.
are 11 and in Upper Burma only three. One man cannot successfully supervise the
staff of vaccinators for two or more districts, with the result that many operators
escape almost wholly from inspection. The consequences are obvious. In Sando-
way and Tavoy, for example, which claim to have successfully vaccinated a larger
number of persons per 1,000 than any other district, the total number of cases veri¬
fied by native Superintendents was 88 and 1,198 respectively, or .56 and 4.85 respec-
tively of the total number of vaccinations performed. In Amherst the native Super-
intendents inspected 11,568 cases; in Myaungmya, which has long been unfavour-
ably known for its backwardness in vaccination, the total of cases inspected amounted
to 214. The system is partly to blame, but there is no reason why the existing
staff should perform less work each year. The Superintendent-General should
consider whether it is not advisable to increase the staff. From the number of
false returns submitted by vaccinators, as well as the amount of incompetent
vaccination reported to have been detected by Civil Surgeons' inspections, it is
clear that a much more effective supervision is necessary. Laxness in supervi-
sion not only encourages bad work but gives opportunities to the vaccinators to
falsify statistics to such an extent that it is practically impossible to come to any
reliable conclusion regarding the progress of vaccination in this province.
The inspection work of Civil Surgeons has been more thoroughly carried out
than in the previous year. In the majority of cases the percentage of successful
cases discovered by their inspections was smaller than the number discovered by
the native Superintendents, from which it would appear that the latter are not
absolutely reliable in their figures. For example, the percentages of successes
discovered by the Civil Surgeon and the native Superintendent in Hanthawaddy
are 59.01 and 92.11 respectively.
Financial.
9. There has been an increase in the total cost of the department of
Rs. 4,008-3-0 as compared with the previous year
The appointment of two more native Superintendents
and nine more vaccinators is chiefly responsible for this. Rather more than half
the expenditure was borne by Local Funds ; the balance Government and Munici-
palities contributed in about the same ratio as in the preceding year, the figures
being 22.31 and 25.52 respectively.
The average cost of each successful case in the districts outside of Municipal
towns varied from one anna in Sandoway and Tavoy to seven annas and one pie
in Myitkyina and eight annas and nine pies in the Southern Shan States. In the
majority of cases there was a slight decrease in cost. Statistics regarding the
cost of vaccination in Municipal towns are given on page 6 of the report. The
cost of each successful case varies from Rs. 1 -1-4 in Rangoon to Re. 0-1-2 in
Myanaung.
General remarks.
10. During the year under review the Burma Vaccination Law Amendment
Act was passed. This Act, which is the outcome of
a long discussion, gives power to Superintendents of
Vaccination in Rangoon Municipality, and in other Municipalities to which the Act
may be extended, to require an unprotected person to be vaccinated, and provides
moreover for the compulsory vaccination of inmates of lodging-houses or coolie-
barracks. It is hoped that the provisions of the new Act will result in checking to