16
REPORT ON VACCINATION IN ASSAM.
Large district medical staff.
92. Sibságar.—Vaccination in this district has three centres of control, and a staff
which comprises 2 Civil Surgeons, 1 Assistant-Surgeon, 6
vaccinators, 2 Hospital-Assistants, and 3 ex-inoculators.
Results are not correspondingly good.
93. Dr. Clarke made the remark in last year's report that the work here " is the
most depressed in the Province for the season, and very
little personal activity or interest appears to have been
shown by anyone." I regret to add that the returns for 1883-84 show no improvement.
Statistics at Sibságar.
94. At the sadr station and municipality the Government vaccinator's figures of
812 and 786 successful alone give a fair average of work
done: - the Civil Surgeon with 24 and 20, the municipal
vaccinator with 369 and 342, the Hospital-Assistant with 41 and 41, and 2 ex-inocu-
lators with 258 and 254, are insufficient; though the ratio of successes, if reliable, is
good. The total of six workers was only 1,504 operations and 1,443 successes.
Statistics at Jorhát.
95. At Jorhát, 1 Assistant-Surgeon, 2 vaccinators, and 1 ex-inoculator were
employed, and their conjoint labours produced 1,570
operations, 1,266 successful, and a ratio just below 81
per cent.
Statistics at Golághát.
96. At Golághát, there was a Civil Surgeon, 1 Hospital-Assistant, and 2 vaccina¬
tors, the result being 519 operations and 412 successes,
equal to 81.1 per cent.
General review.
97. The combined operations of the district was, therefore, 14 operators, 3,593
total and 3,121 successful operations: and a ratio of 86.8
per cent. These figures are a small advance on the sudden
and great decrease of 1882-83, but they must be deemed altogether inadequate to the strong
superior and subordinate medical staff engaged, and especially to the opportunities of
development in the district.
Ex-inoculators' work not good.
98. The ex-inoculators should not be re-employed. Dr. Conceiçao made repeated
efforts to check their returns, and they failed utterly to
satisfy him. He believes them to be entirely fabricated.
If, as seems most likely, those men are not working vaccination fairly, it is no wonder
that so much discontent prevails among the people, who are for the most part brought
in contact with this class as resident practitioners.
Inspection.
99. The Civil Surgeon inspected 1,793 vaccinations, and
the Assistant Surgeon 1,396.
Tea-garden vaccination.
100. Sibságar has a very large tea-planting interest, and the coolie labourers are
entered as a population of 61,519. Among these there were
685 operations and 568 successes by tea-garden agency only.
Local reports unsatisfactory.
101. There is little in the several reports which is of interest. Inoculation is said
to be pretty general; but the character of all the information
is mostly " hearsay," and evidence of the small personal
activity and interest which is being taken in the district work.
Local obstruction.
102. The Vaccination Act is nowhere in force; an outbreak of small-pox at mauzas
Purovimáti and Churámoni, thána Jorhát, was not stamped
out; the people left the epidemic to run its course, saying
they were " vhakats, " and would have neither vaccination nor inoculation.
Average cost of the season.
103. The expenses of the season were not heavy, but the average cost of each
successful operation, two annas four pies, is high, because
the results were few. Only Rs. 18 was drawn as travel-
ling; allowance.
Local effort and zeal chiefly needed.
104. It is no use recommending additions to the establishment. Increased local
energy is required in overcoming what is admittedly mere
" passive antagonism" of the people. There is a great
advantage in having three centres of control, and the superintendence is ample for
administration and inspection.
Sources of lymph.
105. Lymph and crusts were obtained from various sources. Those from Almorah
were most successful. The Bengal bovine lymph was
not successful.
106. The reports alike of sadr and sub-divisional stations have not been forwarded
through the district officials as directed in the Medical Department Circular No. 115, of
15th November 1873, and are consequently not reviewed by the Deputy-Commissioner.