IN BURMA FOR THE YEARS 1902-03 to 1904-05.
3
The Burman saya charges one or two rupees per case inoculated and for
this he carefully attends the child throughout the illness.
As there is no law prohibiting this practice of inoculation, and as the people
still seem to prefer it to vaccination, Civil Surgeons and District Officers com-
plain that it is not possible to suppress it.
The Civil Surgeon, Pegu, states that inoculation is carried on in all parts of
the district, especially on the borders of Toungoo and Hanthawaddy. The Civil
Surgeon, Ma-ubin, says that inoculators have been busy during the last quarter of
the year.
Statement I.
8. Results by districts.—Four
districts show yearly decreases in the number
vaccinated during the triennium, viz., Pegu (2,575), Prome (2,471), Ruby Mines
(827) and Minbu (2,805). No explanations have been given.
Marked decreases have taken place in the following districts comparing the
period 1904-05 and 1903-04:—
Myaungmya
...
...
...
Ma-ubin... ... ...
Henzada... ... ...
Kvaukpyu...
...
...
5,566
3,715
3,429
2,379
The marked decrease in the Myaungmya district is due, it is stated, to the
number of inoculators at work, the people preferring inoculation to vaccination.
In the Ma-ubin district the deficiency is attributed to the lazy and inferior
class of vaccinators, and to more effective and closer inspections preventing
falsification of returns.
In Kyaukpyu there was a decrease of 2,379 cases during 1904-05 compared
with 1903-04 and 732 compared with 1902-03. The falling off is due to more
careful supervision and check and changes in the staff brought about by the dis-
missal of two vaccinators and delay caused in getting suitably qualified men to
fill their places.
A large number of districts show small decreases in 1904-05 as compared
with the two previous years, due to bad lymph supplied by the Meiktila Depôt in
April, May and June. For a part of June this lymph failed altogether, and in
many districts vaccination was entirely suspended. Some districts kept work
going by obtaining lymph from Bangalore temporarily, but this Depôt was only
able to supply a very small portion of the demand.
The Civil Surgeon, Pegu, states that the falling off in towns is due to
constant work having been carried on, thereby rendering the number requiring
protection less; and in the district to bad workers and failure of lymph-supply
from Meiktila during the second quarter of the year 1904-05, when vaccination
had to be suspended entirely.
Six districts show a steady increase in work, viz., Tharrawaddy, Amherst,
Mergui, Sagaing, Lower Chindwin and Rangoon.
Bassein district shows an increase of 422 cases during the period 1904-05
and a percentage of success of 89.08.
In Hanthawaddy the total number of persons vaccinated during 1904-05 is
larger than in the previous two periods, but the total number for the triennial period
is less than the last triennial period by 19,134 cases.
In Tharrawaddy the total vaccination exhibits a progressive increase, being
14,892 for 1904-05 against 14,541 for 1903-04 and 11,816 for 1902-03. The
increase in the past year was due to a scare caused by an epidemic of small-pox,
which induced people to come willingly for vaccination. The ratio per cent. of
success has also improved, being 85.63, 80.57 and 70.53 for the corresponding
years.
The Akyab district shows a progressive increase in number vaccinated but
a decrease in the ratio of successes.
Ten districts show a percentage of successes of 90 and over, seventeen districts
80 to 89, seven between 70 and 80, five between 60 and 70 and one (Salween)
only 53.21.
9. Lymph-supply.—During
the triennium, the lymph-supply was obtained
for the whole province from the Central Depôt, Meiktila, which was opened in
February 1902.