xvi
GENERAL REPORT.
Summary proceed-
ings of the season.
53. The superintendent details the proceedings of the first season in
a carefully prepared report. It was found impossible to recruit the sanc-
tioned establishment, and the work was carried on with 3 head vaccinators
instead of 6, and 36 vaccinators in place of 72. Many of the latter were, more-
over, unskilled, and in other respects unsatisfactory. A good out-turn of work
was however accomplished. 47,549 vaccinations were performed, 47,417 of
which were successful or 99.73 per cent. Each vaccinator performed 1,320 oper-
ations and the cost of each successful case amounted to anna 1-8. Surgeon
K. P. Goopta, the Officiating Superintendent of the Metropolitan circles, was
deputed in December to inspect the working of the new circle. He found
that a satisfactory vesicle had been established, and that arm-to-arm vac-
cination was alone practised. He inspected the work of each of the three
divisions into which the circle had been divided, and found the results good.
A careful programme had been drawn out for the season's work, and though
much opposition was experienced, the superintendent and his staff were labour-
ing with considerable success to overcome it.
Attitude of the peo-
ple.
The extension of Act
IV of 1865 to Dacca
district mooted.
54. The superintendent's report indicates, that as far as circumstances
permitted, work was done in a careful and systematic manner. Among a people
wedded to inoculation it could not be expected that no opposition should be
experienced, and it is not surprising that the usual suspicions and prejudices were
encountered. They seem to have been judiciously combated and successfully
overcome until the season for inoculation arrived when, no doubt instigated
by the inoculators, opposition took on a more active form. The sect of Ferazees
were also found to be intractable. Baboo Bhoobun Mohun Mitter recommends
the extension of Act IV of 1865 to the district of Dacca. The population
of this district is 1,193,512. The number of births would amount at 30 per
1,000 to 34,805. The number of successful vaccinations performed by the
circle exceeded this number, and the establishment when complete should
accomplish double the work of last season. I am, therefore, of opinion that
the Act might very safely be extended to the Dacca district. The measure
would, moreover, give a great impulse to vaccination in Eastern Bengal.
Inspection.
Small-pox.
55. The superintedent inspected and compared with the register 54 per
cent. of the operations performed, and fully verified the percentage of success
shown in the returns. Small-pox was not very prevalent during the season,
and the two out-breaks which were reported to the superintendent were satis-
factorily stamped out. It could not be expected that inoculation would be
at once discontinued, and the operation is said to have been extensively prac-
tised. Some inoculators, however, appear to have considered it better policy
to learn and practise vaccination. This feeling will, no doubt, increase as vacci-
nation gains a stronger hold on the district, more particularly, if inoculation is
prohibited.
Difficulties experi
enced.
56. The superintendent points out the difficulty which vaccinators have
experienced in obtaining lodgings in villages, and suggests that they should
be supplied with tents and coolies to carry them. No complaint of this
sort has reached me from any other circle, and I am not disposed to support
this recommendation. "When the vaccinators become more acquainted with
the country, they should be able more readily to obtain lodgings. If men
belonging to the district were appointed, as they ought to be if possible, they
ought to have less difficulty in securing food and shelter in villages. He also
proposes a graded system of salaries for vaccinators and extra vaccinators. I am
of opinion that this would be an improvement and act as a stimulus to good
behaviour and work, and would recommend that the superintendent should be
permitted to grade his vaccinators accordingly, taking care not to exceed the
total sum nor to alter the number originally sanctioned. I think likewise
that the appointment of a few apprentices would be a useful measure. I am
not sure, however, that the system of " extra vaccinators"—men entertained and
paid for the working season only—will be a success, and I hesitate to recom-