NOTES ON THE STATISTICS OF VACCINATION IN BURMA FOR THE YEAR 1899-1900.
13
in the Thatôn district exaggerated his work. Three of the Shwebo district vacci-
nators were found guilty of returning as successful operations which were not
successful, besides otherwise falsifying their returns. The Municipal vaccinator
at Kyauksè exaggerated his work by entering fictitious names in his registers. A
vaccinator in the Myingyan district returned as successful cases which he had
not verified. In the Northern Shan States a vaccinator was found to have falsi-
fied his returns : out of 184 cases reported successful only 28 were found on inspec-
tion to be protected Three vaccinators in the Southern Shan States returned
cases as successful which were found on inspection to be failures.
Thus in 13 out of 38 districts the statistics were found to have been falsified.
In the majority of instances cited above the vaccinators were punished with dismis-
sal or removal from the service. Prosecutions were instituted in some cases and
convictions obtained. In some of the other districts suspicions of fraudulent work
exist, but with duties at headquarters in connection with jails and hospitals and
difficulties in means of communication, District Medical officers complain that
they cannot give vaccination the attention it requires.
Attitude of people towards vacci-
nation.
11. There is no reason to believe that in any municipality or in the districts
generally there exists any very strong antipathy to
vaccination among the people. As in other provinces,
mothers do not like to submit their infants to the
operation, and do their best to delay it till the child is over a year old. As a rule,
however, they understand the efficiency of vaccination in affording protection
against small-pox. The Civil Surgeon at Sagaing reports that headmen of vil-
lages clamour for a vaccinator when cases of small-pox appear. In the Upper
Chindwin and the Shan States vaccination is said to be not popular, but no active
opposition is encountered. The people, in fact, are accustomed to inoculation
and can understand vaccination, but the Burman is very conservative in his ways
and prefers his own old, though mischievous, usage to what he regards as foreign
inventions. The Civil Surgeon of Meiktila found the attitude of the people op-
posed to vaccination in parts of the district, especially at places where there was a
Burman Government official. He reports that the civil authorities generally ex-
erted their influence to popularize vaccination, but that some Burman officials,
whilst expressing their willingness to aid, did in reality just the reverse, and that in
certain places where there was a Burman Myoôk he found the people most in-
tractable, whilst in remote villages in the interior of the district, away from such
influences, he and his vaccinators were cordially received by the inhabitants and
vaccination readily accepted.
Compulsory vaccination
12. In districts vaccination is not compulsory, but considering the interest
at stake and the danger to the community of epi-
demic outbreaks of a fatal and mutilative disease like
small-pox, Government officers of all grades are expected to use their influence
with the people in promoting vaccination, which admittedly confers almost perfect
security against death from small-pox, and is beyond comparison the greatest
practical good which medical science can offer. The personal influence of dis-
trict officials can do a great deal to assist the department in diffusing a knowledge
of the benefits of vaccination, and in this matter the judicious use of official pres-
sure is, it is submitted, not only legitimate but imperative.
In municipalities the Act for the compulsory vaccination of children is in
force, and wherever vaccination is defective, it is for the Municipal Committees to
show cause why the provisions of the law have not been fully and systematically
worked.
The Burma Vaccination Law
Amendment Act.
13. With a view to further provide for compulsory vaccination in Burma and
avert the severe outbreaks of small-pox which have
from time to time visited localities, especially the
town of Rangoon, various measures had been dis-
cussed, but opinions were not unanimous on the subject. The epidemic of 1898-99,
however, emphasized the necessity for adopting measures by which emigrant
coolies from Indian ports would be protected from small-pox. It was urged that
any measure to be really effective must provide for the protection of unprotected
4