( 2 )
Work done by each class of operators.
4. Of the 121,900 operations only 571 were re-vaccinations. The number of
operators being 214, this gives an average of 569 apiece,
against 553 in 1885-86; but, as before stated, only 155
of the staff were persons whose whole time was given to vaccination. The following
table shows the number done by each class in detail:—
Civil Surgeons .................
Native Inspectors .............
Hospital-Assistants .........
Compounders ..............
Provincial vaccinators ...
Local Fund ditto ...
Municipal
ditto ...
Licensed
ditto ...
Number of
operators.
8
8
34
9
42
74
9
30
Number of
vaccinations.
1,030
1,435
1,410
1,704
41,246
55,076
4,161
15,838
Average per
head.
128
179
41
189
982
744
462
527
Ditto in
1885-86.
115
177
75
105
987
638
474
611
Civil Surgeons generally took little part in the work of vaccination. Three per-
formed no operations during the year, and Dr. Mullane of Gauháti, Dr.N. Campbell of
Tezpur, and Dr. Whitwell of Dibrugarh are the only officers who have any consider-
able number to their credit. Native Inspectors have similarly done the work of vaccination
themselves only in Nowgong and Sibságar. Hospital-Assistants have been very backward
this year, and the Chief Commissioner expects Civil Surgeons to see that officers of this
class exert themselves more in the spread of vaccination. The Provincial vaccinators show
a fair average, though slightly less than last year. That of the Local Fund men has
improved, but is capable of still further improvement. That of the municipal vaccinators
remains, as hitherto, unsatisfactory. That of the licensed vaccinators has also fallen off.
Proportion of success.
5. Of the total number of primary vaccinations, 121,329, 112,016, or 92.32 per
cent., are shown as successful; of these 21,638, or 19.3 per
cent., were performed on infants under one year old, and
68,421, or 61 per cent., on children between one and six years old. Of the 6,933 tea-
garden vaccinations, only 76.36 per cent. are returned as successful. The proportions of
success vary from 88.57 per cent. in the case of Civil Surgeons and 86.75 per cent. in
that of Native Inspectors, to 94.62 per cent. for Provincial vaccinators, 91 61 for men
paid by Local Boards, and 92.60 for licensed vaccinators. Municipal vaccinators, who
exist only at Sylhet, Gauháti, and Dibrugarh, show the smallest proportion of success,
84.88 per cent.; perhaps this is because they work, like Hospital-Assistants (86.09) and
compounders, (86.75), under the eye of the Civil Surgeon at the district head-quarters.
Inspection
6. The efficiency of the department is most surely gauged by the results of inspec-
tion, and here the Chief Commissioner regrets to notice a
slight falling off, as compared with the previous year. With
the same inspecting staff, and with 6,258 more vaccinations to inspect, the total number
inspected was only 58,556, or 48 per cent., against 59,044, or 51 per cent. in 1885-86.
The total for Civil Surgeons (15,671) is rather better than last year; but that for Native
Inspectors has fallen by nearly 4,000. Considerable use has been made in Sylhet and
Sibságar of Hospital-Assistants for inspection work. Dr. Dobson, of Goálpára, is the Civil
Surgeon whose work as inspector deserves most praise; Dr. McNaught of Nowgong, Babu
Annada Prasád Ghosh of Sibságar, and Dr. Mullane of Gauháti also merit commendation.
Results of inspection.
7. The results of the inspections of these officers were that the Civil Surgeons found
88.82 per cent. of the operations which they examined
successful: Hospital-Assistants returned 92.32 per cent. as
effective, and Native Inspectors 91.92 per cent. These figures are largely affected by the
tendency which, Dr. Eteson thinks, prevailed in Sylhet to accept too easy a standard
of success. The work of licensed vaccinators (formerly called " ex-inoculators") was
brought under careful scrutiny in Goálpára and Darrang, but was not adequately inspected
in Kámrúp. Out of 8,489 vaccinations by this class in Goálpára, 5,690 were inspected:
2,150 out of 6,982 in Kámrúp, and 324 out of 367 in Darrang. The high proportion of
success shown by these inspections (91.27 per cent.) is satisfactory, but this agency should
not be allowed to be extended except where it can be kept under strict supervision.
Cost of vaccination.
8. The total cost of vaccination during the year was Rs. 12,136, of which provin-
cial funds contributed Rs. 6,248, municipal Rs. 521, and
local Rs. 5,367. The amount expended was Rs. 3,000 less
than had been provided in the budget, and Dr. Eteson rightly blames this neglect to take
advantage of resources which lay ready to hand. The cost of each successful operation,
according to these figures, fell from 2 annas 5 ¾ pies to 2 annas 0¾ pies.