Notes on Vaccination in the Central Provinces and Berar
for the season 1914-15.
Establishment.
During the season the establishment was augmented by three men—a second
Assistant Superintendent of Vaccination for Drug
District, which was too large for one man to manage, and
two vaccinators in the Yeotmal and Buldana Districts.
Total number of operations
performed. Statement I.
2. The total number of vaccinations performed by the special staff, Sub-
Assistant Surgeons attached to dispensaries and by
other agencies fell from 622,376 in 1913-14 to 602,643
in the year under notice—a difference of 19,733. It is
rather an unwelcome feature that the results should be unfavourable in the very
year in which the pay and prospects were raised, but there were a good many
untoward circumstances, such as plague outbreaks and transfers of officers owing
to the war, which hindered the work.
Work done by the special staff.
3. The special staff performed 525,750 primary and 74,231 re-vaccinations
against 521,172 and 96,813 in 1913-14. The decrease
is among re-vaccinations only which show a deficit of
22,582. Less work was done in 13 districts, Narsinghpur heading the list with a
decrease of 6,369 operations. Among the other districts showing less work,
the following are conspicuous :—Chanda (—5,553), Buldana (—5,023), Balaghat
(—3,818), Mandla (—2,238), Yeotmal (—2,205) and Nagpur (—2,069).
In Narsinghpur the fall is attributed to the discontinuance of the peculiar
local custom of vaccinating mothers after child-birth. In Chanda the staff was
not ready for work until one month after the working season began. In Bala-
ghat the decrease is attributed to the absence of coolies from manganese mines
and want of lists of children available for vaccination, in Mandla to sickness of
the staff, in Hoshangabad. Nagpur and Seoni to plague and in Yeotmal to pre-
valence of cholera. In Buldana the Civil Surgeon reports that in the former season
a large number of re-vaccinations on account of the prevalence of small-pox were
done by the plague staff and by the Sub-Assistant Surgeons attached to dispensaries
so that a comparison of this year's figures is bound to be unfavourable. The
vaccination staff in this district is not in a satisfactory condition, and the
rules for promotion require to be more carefully observed. Possibly the
large amount of new material may indicate an attempt to get rid of undesir-
ables—at any rate under the new rules reliable men should be easily procurable.
4. The districts showing better work are Saugor, Damoh, Nimar, Betul,
Chhindwara, Wardha and the districts of the Chhattisgarh Division, but even
in these there is still room for improvement as the average number of operations
performed by individual vaccinators is not up to the mark. When, in hilly and
sparsely populated places like Yeotmal and Chhindwara, individual vaccinators
have done more than 4,500 operations, it is not understood why men in the
plains should not do as well. I hope Civil Surgeons will induce their vaccinators
to show better results and will withhold rewards unless they feel certain that the
work done is deserving:.
Dispensary
Vaccination.
Statement III.
5. No work was done by the Sub-Assistant Surgeons
attached to dispensaries, as no emergency arose.
Vaccination
by
other
agencies.
6. A total of 2,662 operations (464 primary and 2,198 re-vaccinations)
was done in Jails and by the railway staff. The work
done by the latter is insignificant, and one Civil Surgeon
suggests the deputation of a circle vaccinator at every railway station, but this is
unnecessary as it is the business of the railway authorities to take care of the
health of their own people.
Cost of Department. State-
ment II.
7. The total cost of the Department was Rs. 95,604-4-9 against
Rs. 84,241-1-3 in the previous year, i. e., an excess of
Rs. 11,363-3-6 due to the improvement in the pay
of the staff from the 1st October 1914 and to the additional establishment enter-
tained at the Central Vaccine Depôt. The cost per successful vaccination has
in consequence also risen from Re. 0-2-3 in the previous year to Re. 0-2-6 and to
Re. 0-2-10 if the expenditure at the Central Vaccine Depôt is taken into account
Preparation of lymph and
Lymph Depôt.
8. The following is a note on the working of the Depôt during the past
year submitted by Mr. Richardson, the Superintendent of
the Institution :—
"Five districts were supplied with lymph from the Depôt throughout the season under
review. Eighty-four calves vaccinated during the year, of which 79 were successful,