6
number of vaccinations performed per month by each municipal vaccina-
tor shows great variation in different towns, the figures for Lahore being
546, Amritsar 606, Ferozepore 113, Sialkot 244, Lyallpur 592, Multan
268, Rawalpindi 767, Jullundur 205 and Ludhiana 159. One of the
causes of these variations is the absence of an adequate number of
vaccination stations, as the result of which house-to-house visits, instead
of being confined to those who are unable or unwilling to attend at the
vaccination station, is the main method by which vaccination is carried
out.
In the case of small towns and notified areas, some progress
has been made in inducing them to employ a vaccinator, and in
several instances two or more small towns have combined to share a
vaccinator between them. In most cases, however, vaccination in these
towns is carried out by vaccinators of the district staff, an arrangement
which is to be deprecated, as the latter are already overworked and few
towns can be completely vaccinated in the course of one short visit.
(c) Special Staff—The total number of operations performed by the
special vaccination staff during the triennium 1926-29 was 251,539, of
which 66,939 were primary vaccinations and 184,600 were revaccinations,
the corresponding figures for the previous triennium being 173,060, of
which 90,033 were primary vaccinations and 83,027 were revaccinations.
The total number of operations, therefore, shows an increase of 78,479
during the years 1926-29, but a decline of 23,094 in the number of primary
vaccinations.
During the year 1928-29 the total number of operations performed
was 112,537 (33,259 primary and 79,278 revaccinations), as compared
with 52,966 (16,617 primary and 36,349 revaccinations) in 1927-28 and
86,036 (17,063 primary and 68,973 revaccinations) in 1926-27. The
decline in the number of primary operations during the triennium is
mainly attributed to apathy and lack of co-operation on the part of the
authorities of some of the Hill States, but the conspicuous rise, both in
the number of primary and revaccinations during the year 1928-29,
which occurred as the result of the efforts made by the Assistant Director
of Public Health, Vaccination, assisted by a severe outbreak of smallpox
in some of these States, shows that these difficulties are not insuperable.
(d) Dispensary Staff—During the triennium the number of vaccin-
ations performed by medical officers in charge of dispensaries was 10,510,
as compared with 9,789 during the preceding triennium.
During the year 1928-29 the number of primary operations and
revaccinations performed at dispensaries was 1,912 and 2,019 respectively,
as compared with 1,989 and 1,616 respectively in the preceding
year and 1,752 and 1,222 in the year 1926-27. The dispensary system
of vaccination appeared to be peculiarly suited to the needs of small
towns and notified areas, and an attempt has been made during the
past three years to induce small town committees to adopt this system.
The result has, however, been disappointing, and District Medical Officers
of Health are almost unanimously of opinion that it should be discontinu-
ed. It would indeed seem this work should be carried out exclusively
under the auspices of the Public Health Department, but that, where the
dispensary system is desired and is worked satisfactorily, it may be
allowed to continue.
(e) Cantonment Staff—In cantonments that employ their own
vaccinators the total number of primary operations in the year 1928-29 was
5,060, as compared with 4,356 in the preceding year and 4,049 in the year
1926-27. In the case of revaccinations, the figure for the year under
review was 2,714, as compared with 2,873 in the preceding year and 4,390
in the year 1926-27. In certain cantonments vaccination inspections
are still carried out by the District Medical Officers of Health, but it is
hoped that this arrangement will shortly be abolished as these inspections
can best be carried out by Military Medical Officers.