20
REPORT ON VACCINATION IN ASSAM.
Tea-gardens
131. 3,780 persons were vaccinated on tea-gardens by Provincial and Local Fund
vaccinators. I am not quite sure that such an extensive
appropriation of public servants is contemplated; the under-
standing is that lymph only should be distributed, and the actual work left to garden
doctors; but Cachar seems always to have claimed Government aid in this form, and it
is the only district in which vaccination on tea-gardens is considerable. Of 179 gardens,
returns were received from 123.
Expenditure.
132. The expenditure in Cachar amounted to Rs. 1,046-5-3, of which Provincial
Funds paid Rs. 383 in salaries and Rs. 157 in travelling
allowance. Local Funds paid Rs. 450, and Municipal Funds
Rs. 56. The average cost of each successful vaccination, inclusive of those performed on
tea-gardens by public operators, was 2 annas.
Acknowledgment of good services in Cachar.
133. The results in Cachar for the past season are the highest on record, and Dr.
Partridge is to be congratulated on having so quickly reor-
ganized the district operations and disseminated vaccination
so extensively and economically, while acknowledgments are also due to Mr. Kennedy,
Deputy-Commissioner, and the members of the Local Board for the increased funds
available and for the general assistance given to the work.
GENERAL REMARKS.
Inoculation
Employment of ex-inoculalors
Payments by results in the Punjab.
134. There would seem to be little doubt but that inoculation is losing ground in
Assam. The tenor of nearly all the Civil Surgeon's remarks is to this effect. The
professional inoculators are mostly Bengali immigrants, and
their time of business corresponds very nearly to the
busiest time of the vaccinators. The two classes cannot work together, or unknown to
each other; and Dr. Dobson lays particular stress on the fact that the licensed vaccinators,
who were formerly inoculators, have their living to make, and would very soon inform
against any opposition. In South Sylhet, the Local Board
employed unofficially two or three ex-inoculators and paid
them by results, viz., 3 annas each the first hundred and 2 annas each in excess. In the
Resolution of the Honourable the Lieutenant-Governor on the Punjab Vaccination Report
for 1884-85, it is noticed that in Dera Ismail Khan "an effort is being made to extend
vaccination by the entertainment of local vaccinators instead of outsiders, who are to be
paid by results at the rate of one anna for each successful
operation, and a small reward of 2 to 4 pies to each
mother from whose child lymph may be taken." There seems, however, to be no lack
of customers in Goálpára, who pay the local men at the rate of 2 annas, instead of
being paid one anna, and, where the population is fairly plentiful and transit easy, as in
South Sylhet, this system should at least be tried in the beginning,
Progress in the feelings of the natives
owards vaccination.
135. The district reports touch slightly on the feeling of the natives regarding
vaccination. "'In general it is passive acquiescence, and, as
heretofore, accepted more or less unwillingly. But in
some places the people do seem to understand its protective value, and are growing
accustomed to the regular seasonal visit. There are still considerable sections of the
population who are entirely under the influence of the priesthood, and dare not be
vaccinated even if they wished it. Not a single Superintendent mentions his having
received assistance from a native of any rank or education. In this respect the practice of
the Punjab Government might be copied with advantage. Commendatory certificates are
given to those who interest themselves in the cause of vaccination. These certificates
are ordinarily signed by the Sanitary Commissioner. Very special services are to be
reported to Government for the grant of sanads signed by a Secretary; or, if the services
have been of altogether exceptional merit, by the Lieutenant-Governor.
Improved accuracy and genuine vaccination
of the year.
136. In the review of last season's operations it was remarked (paragraph 34) that
the two points of vaccination in Assam which stand out
prominently under the increase of late years, are the
accuracy of the statistics, and the genuine protective character of the vaccine pock.
In both respects I am satisfied that in nearly all the districts the Civil Surgeons,
as Superintendents, entered on the current season's operations with an earnest
willingness, not only to extend vaccination, but to improve its character by careful
inspection, and to check the registers of the operators as often as possible, and I believe
with fairly good results. In several townships, and even in whole districts, there has
now been no severe epidemic of small-pox since 1883-84, and the immunity has been
particularly marked in those which have had the advantage of careful supervision and
systematic vaccination.