Notes on Vaccination in the Central Provinces and Berar for the
season 1912-13.
Area served by the Vaccin-
ation Department.
The area served by the Vaccination Department remained the same as in the
previous year, but under orders conveyed in the Govern-
ment of India, Foreign Department, letter No. 199-G.,
dated the 23rd January 1913, the statistics of the Feudatory States have been
omitted. The Provincial Vaccination reports will therefore deal in future with
the khalsa portion of the Province only.
Statement I.
Total number of operations
performed.
2. The total number of vaccination operations performed during the season
amounted to 574,510 (503,956 primary and 70,554
re-vaccinations) against 583,101 (512,312 primary and
70,789 re-vaccinations) in the previous season. Of these
574,510 operations, 570,778 (502,598 primary and
68,180 re-vaccinations) were done by the special establishment, 2,909 (1,130
primary and 1,779 re-vaccinations) by other agencies and 823 (228 primary and
595 re-vaccinations) were done in dispensaries, the proportion of persons
successfully vaccinated per thousand of the population being 38.18 against 39.99
in the previous year.
Work done by the special
establishment.
3. The total number of operations performed by vaccinators fell from
579,782 in 1911-12 to 570,778 in 1912-13, i.e., a de-
crease of 9,004 (8,533 primary and 471 re-vaccinations).
Twelve districts show a decrease which is most marked in Raipur (7,657).
Chanda recorded a decrease of 5,944, Nagpur of 3,231, Akola of 3,039, Damoh
of 1,766 and Bhandara of 1,271. In the remaining six districts (Saugor, Nimar,
Chhindwara, Wardha, Bilaspur and Drug) the fall was less than 1,000. In all
these districts the prevalence of cholera and consequent deputation of the staff
on cholera duty has been the chief cause for the decrease. In Damoh and
Bhandara plague accounts for the decrease to some extent, in the former only
63 per cent of the available children were vaccinated and the average amount of
work per vaccinator is extremely low, while in Nagpur and Raipur it is attributed
to there being fewer infants available owing to a lower birth-rate and higher
mortality. Perhaps this and the fact that during epidemics of small-pox in some
villages, as Captain Shaw remarks, there is a fear of offending the goddess,
account for the large decrease in primary operations during the season. In
Chanda a very unfavourable account is given of the staff who, it is stated,
are mostly men with inferior qualifications turned out of service from other
departments. It is to be regretted that in spite of the unfavourable comment
made in the last report, the work in Bilaspur has not in any way improved.
4. Notwithstanding the prevalence of small-pox, re-vaccination has not made
any headway. In 13 districts less work was done than in the previous year.
This is due in my opinion to the generally unsatisfactory state of the vaccination
staff referred to later. Mr. Standen, in his forwarding note, has dwelt upon some
of the disabilities of the staff and suggests that the re-vaccination of children of
12 to 13 years in primary schools can be done without much trouble provided the
age is not considered too early and that a memorandum on the subject would be use-
ful to District Boards. Such a leaflet has been drawn up and sent to the Director
of Public Instruction for issue to schoolmasters who are the best disseminators
of elementary knowledge in rural tracts. The co-operation however of Revenue
and other influential officers is very necessary. Mr. Jathar remarks that he
cannot recall a single occasion during his four years' service in Buldana District,
on which either the vaccinator or the Assistant Superintendent of vaccination
approached him while in camp with the object of seeking assistance in removing
obstruction and prejudice. This subject was alluded to in the last report and
Civil Surgeons should instruct vaccinators to lay their difficulties before touring
officers and seek aid from them.
5. There are many complaints about the inadequacy of the staff both in
numbers and intelligence, the fact being that the work can no longer be done on
the terms offered. The tendency, which I think exists, to imagine that vaccina-
tion is easily and successfully performed is a dangerous one and the Civil Surgeon,
Raipur, mentions the village of Singarpur where owing to opposition no vaccination
has been done for six years. The recent epidemics (Buldana, Nagpur, etc.) and
school inspections both show how badly protected a large portion of the people
are. This whole subject is coming up for consideration by the Sanitary Board
after the issue of this report.
The cost per successful vaccination was Re. 0-2-1 during the year.