ABSTRACTS OF REPORTS OF CIVIL SURGEONS.
73
Work done.
96 were employed, in 1871 and 1872, 124, and during the last season there has been also a
considerable increase. The return of work by these men submitted, is really for 1871 and 1872,
as the information cannot be obtained in time to embody in the return for the present year.
This course has hitherto been pursued. On the requisition of the civil surgeon, these men
receive purwannahs from the police to practise vaccination within the limits of certain
thannahs.
The police are also requested to report any man who may be found practising
inoculation. These men hitherto have been under no regular supervision. They appear
after the season is over with some of the crusts and a memo regarding the particulars of the
operations they have performed.
" They returned for 1871 and 1872 over 9,000 cases, but their work will never be satis-
factory, until they are properly supervised. They likewise must receive some encourage-
ment, and in my No. 25 of the 16th January 1873 I stated my views on the subject, and
appended an estimate of the probable cost of a scheme for district vaccination.
The futures of vac¬
cination in Mon¬
ghyr.
" I am quite convinced it will be only with the assistance of these men under proper
supervision that district vaccination can succeed, and they should not only be encouraged,
but fairly remunerated as well, at any rate, until such time as vaccination gets a firm hold.
Eventually, inoculation may be made penal in the district as well as in the town.
" Most of these men, previous to taking to vaccination, had practised inoculation for
years in their respective villages, and had regular agreements with families to perform the
necessary operations.
" In this way they have a knowledge of the people and gain admission where strangers
would be debarred.
" It is astonishing to me how so many of them take the trouble to apply for purwannahs,
as they have to come long distances, and all they get in a monitary point of view is the
division of Rs. 120 among the lot.
" I was able to inspect only a very small proportion of the work of these men, but what
I did see was encouraging and much better than I anticipated.
"The method of inspection I pursued was as follows:—
Mode of inspection
" I sent intimation to the men at work in the part of the district I intended to visit
to be present at a certain spot. On arrival I asked them the names of the villages within
a reasonable distance, and the number of cases they had performed in each. As a rule, it
was not within my power to visit all the places named, as they generally lie so scattered, but
I picked out a few villages and proceeded to them at once. I must say I was astonished
at the results, as I never found I had been misinformed. In one village I would find five,
in another ten, and in one large village I saw about 80 cases, and the vaccination generally
was good.
" I have little doubt but that some of these men act dishonestly and return to inocula-
tion ; but, on the other hand, I am obliged to admit the work of those examined was en-
couraging.
Suggestions for im-
provement
"With proper organization and supervision a great deal of work might be performed by
them. Some time ago I proposed to the magistrate, in the absence of anything better,
that the chowkidars who supply information for the mortuary returns might likewise
be utilized in supplying information regarding the spread of vaccination. Only general
information would be required of them. When they are able to return the number of deaths
from various diseases, it would be an easy matter for them to likewise simply state whether
vaccinators or inoculators, or both, were at work in their respective villages.
"I also requested that in addition to the ordinary purwannah
supplied by the police
to each man, that the police should take his descriptive roll and place of residence, so that
the man may be readily obtained when wanted. The magistrate agreed with my proposals,
and passed orders for them to be carried out as far as practicable.
" At the same time, he added that, directly the patwaree system is established, the
patwarees will be requested to give the required information. Such arrangements as the
above, with a proper inspecting staff of trained vaccinators distributed over the district,
would, I think, be found to answer very well.
" These converted inoculators being under no regular control, come and go as they like,
and their season is very short, as the most of them are so late in appearing.
19