7
(f) Railway Employees.—The vaccination of railway employees is
ordinarily carried out by the staff of the local body in which the railway
station is located; but, in the case of employees residing in areas under the
jurisdiction of the North Western Railway, vaccination is carried out by
the railway medical staff, who submit their returns to the Municipal Medical
Officer of Health concerned. During the year 1928-29 the railway medical
staff carried out 593 primary vaccinations and 851 revaccinations, as com-
pared with 581 primary and 2,726 revaccinations during the previous year.
7. Smallpox Inoculation.—The dangerous practice of smallpox
inoculation has almost completely ceased, and the only reference to this
subject in the report for the year 1928-29 was the rumoured occurrence
of a small number of inoculations in the Multan and Shahpur districts.
8. The Cost of Vaccination (Statement No. II).—The gross cost of
vaccination during the triennium was Rs. 9,68,305, as compared with
Rs. 7,91,488 during the period 1923-26. The figures for the past three
years are as follows :—
1926-27 ... ... ... ...
1927-28 ... ... ... ...
1928-29 ... ... ... ...
Rs.
3,05,327
3,13,759
3,49,217
A.
11
0
15
P.
6
5
5
Various causes are responsible for the steady increase in the gross
expenditure. In the first place, it has hitherto been customary to show
the pay and travelling allowance of Assistant Directors of Public Health
in charge of circles and their establishments as a debit in statement No. II;
and, as two new circles were created during the triennium, the gross
expenditure has consequently been considerably increased. This procedure,
which is a relic of the days when a single Deputy Sanitary Commis-
sioner, whose main duty was the supervision of vaccination, was employed,
is no longer applicable, and it is proposed to exclude the pay, etc., of
Assistant Directors of Circles in future from statement No. 2.
Secondly, the increase in the number of vaccinators, as the result of
the adoption of the thanewar system, has led to additional expenditure on
pay, travelling allowance and contingencies, whilst the increased number
of vaccinations performed during the triennium has occasioned increased
expenditure on vaccine lymph. The total expenditure on vaccination,
after excluding the cost of the provincial (administrative and technical)
staff, during the year 1928-29 was Rs. 2,37,133-15-11, as compared with
Rs. 2,19,143-9-4 during the preceding year and Rs. 2,10,018-6-10 during
the year 1926-27. The gross cost of each successful vaccination during
the triennium 1926-29 was 0-5-0, as compared with 0-5-1 during the
preceding triennium.
The decrease in cost of each successful vaccination, in spite of the
increase in the total expenditure upon vaccination, is due to the increase
in the number of successful operations during the triennium.
During the year 1928-29 the gross cost of each successful operation
was Re. 0-4-11, as compared with Re. 0-5-0 during the year 1927-28 and
Re. 0-5-1 during the year 1926-27. The expenditure incurred by local
bodies on each successful vaccination was Re. 0-3-7 during the year under
review, as compared with Re. 0-3-7 in the preceding year and Re. 0-3-9
in the year 1926-27.
The cost of each successful operation carried out by the special
staff was Re. 0-5-3 in the year under review, as compared with Re. 0-13-7
in the preceding year and Re. 0-8-4 in the year 1926-27, the reduction in
cost during the year under review being in large measure due to the
greatly increased number of vaccinations carried out by the special staff
in 1928-29.