6
REPORT ON VACCINATION IN ASSAM.
only one per cent. of vaccination ought to fail, and supports his view by a reference
to a hand-book (unnamed), but the real test is the work going on at his door. The
municipal vaccinator in Sylhet claims only 88.97 per cent. The work done by
garden agency in Sylhet registers only 58.46 per cent., and in 1884-85 was only 28.75 per
cent. In no other district of the province is the proportion of successful primary operations
within 5 per cent. of the Sylhet record, and. the average of the whole province, weighted
as it is with the Sylhet disproportionate record, is only 89.28 per cent. These facts should
have more weight than a theoretical opinion based on other climates and operators.
TABLE No. V.
Showing separately the vaccination work among the garden population performed by Government and
Tea-garden Agency, during 1885-86.
Districts
Goálpára
Kámrúp ..................
Nowgong ...............
Darrang ..................
Sibságar ..................
Lakhimpur ...............
Sylhet .....................
Cachar .....................
Total .........
Men.
Primarily vaccinated.
...
...
25
...
...
5
287
60
377
Successfully vaccinated.
...
...
...
...
...
5
61
10
76
Women.
Primarily vaccinated.
...
...
2
...
...
5
323
79
409
Successfully vaccinated.
...
...
...
...
...
5
145
20
170
Children.
Primarily vaccinated.
...
61
274
190
168
259
897
3,614
5,463
Successfully vaccinated.
...
59
253
189
167
237
675
2,753
4,333
Total vacci-
nations by
tea-garden
agency.
Primarily vaccinated.
...
61
301
190
168
269
1,507
3,753
6,249
Successfully vaccinated.
...
59
253
189
167
247
881
2,783
4,579
Total vacci-
nations by
Government
agency.
Primarily vaccinated.
...
...
122
618
...
750
23
3,780
5,293
Successfully vaccinated.
...
...
105
533
...
581
10
3,431
4,660
Grand Total.
Primarily vaccinated.
...
61
423
808
168
1,019
1,530
7,533
11,542
Successfully vaccinated.
...
59
358
722
167
828
891
6,214
9,239
Percentage of successful cases.
...
96.72
84.63
89.35
99.40
81.25
58.23
82.49
80.04
Vaccination on tea-gardens.
20. Vaccination on tea-gardens by private and official agency is detailed above.
The decrease which was noted in the report of last season
continues. In 1883-84 there were 15,150 operations; in
1884-85, 11,939; and in 1885-86, 11,542. Of the latter, 9,239, or 80.04 per cent., were
reported to be successful. The 11,542 operations were made up of 6,249 primary vaccina-
tions by garden agency, and of 5,293 by Government employés. Cachar, as hitherto,
shows most work done, and has a small advance on the total of last year.
Statistics are imperfect and unreliable.
21. Nearly all the district officers draw attention to the fact that the vaccination
returns of tea-gardens are not prescribed by law, and are
difficult to obtain. Although Kámrúp has but a small
proportion of them, the returns have only been obtained after much difficulty on this date
(June 25th) and are still incomplete. The same may be said of every district. Sibságar
has a resident garden population almost equal to Cachar, and the contrast in the statis-
tics between these two districts marks their extreme unreliability. So long as vaccination
is irregularly reported and is dependent on the good-will, or otherwise, of managers, the
value of the table is really nothing at all.