3
The Village Vaccination Register has enabled, for the first time, the work
of the vaccination staff to be readily supervised both by the District
Medical Officer of Health and by inspecting officers. These two features,
combined with the increased supervision rendered possible by the pro-
vision of a separate Medical Officer of Health for each district, are in the
main responsible for the improvement of vaccination during the triennium.
The same policy has not been attended with an equal measure of
success in the case of municipal and small towns, but a small increase in
the number of vaccinators and vaccination stations has taken place in
municipal towns. It is satisfactory to note that, largely as the result of
the efforts of District Medical Officers of Health, the Vaccination Act was
adopted by 53 municipal and small towns (to which the Act was not
extended until the year 1925) during the triennium under review—which
brings the total number of towns in which vaccination is compulsory up
to 176. Other new departures inaugurated during the triennium
included a scheme for the employment of female vaccinators for the
vaccination of women ; but, although this scheme has as yet made
only small progress, owing largely to paucity of trained female
vaccinators, many of the large towns now employ one or more female
vaccinators, whilst training in vaccination has been added to the
curriculum of the Punjab Health School and the vaccination of women is
now carried out as part of the ordinary duties of the Health Visitors.
Another small step taken in the year under review was the issue by
Government of an order that in future all persons, before being admitted
into Government service, must produce evidence of having been vaccinated
or revaccinated within less than a year.
Finally, it may be mentioned that, as the result of the passing of.
the Vaccination Law (Amendment) Act, 1929, district boards are now em-
powered to make vaccination compulsory in any part of the area under
their jurisdiction, but it is as yet too soon to know what use district boards
will make of their powers.
4. Strength of Vaccination Staff (Statement No. II).—The total
number of Superintendents of Vaccination and Vaccinators employed by
local bodies during the triennium was as follows :—
—
Superintendents
of Vaccination ... ... ...
Vaccinators
...
... ... ... ...
Total ... ...
1926-27.
31
371
402
1927-28.
32
401
433
1928-29.
32
432
464
The 432 vaccinators employed during the year 1928-29 included five
engaged by the cantonments of Lahore, Ambala, Ferozepore, Sialkot and
Rawalpindi, but 427 vaccinators were employed by local bodies, as
compared with 397 in the previous year. In Dera Ghazi Khan district
9 additional vaccinators were engaged, 8 in Ferozepore, 5 each in
Montgomery and Shahpur, four in Ludhiana and three in Jhang, but in
Gurgaon the staff was reduced by six and in Lyallpur and Muzaffargarh by
one. The number of district board vaccinators was 343, as compared
with 314 in the previous year.
Some progress has, therefore, been made in giving effect to the
policy of posting one vaccinator to each thana ; but, as there are 427
thanas, and only 343 district board vaccinators, much remains to be done