6
and Gujranwala Districts. In rural areas the minimum number of vaccina-
tors necessary for requirements is two per tahsil and this number has usually
been provided but, as is shown in Statement No. I, the majority of the smaller
Municipal towns employ no vaccinator but utilize (on payment) the occasional
services of vaccinators belonging to District Boards In certain small towns
the vaccinator is a part-time official who acts as a moharrir or even as a Sani-
tary Inspector. This arrangement is unsatisfactory and Municipal Committees
have been urged either to employ a whole-time vaccinator or to appoint the
Medical Officer in charge of the local hospital or dispensary as their public
vaccinator and to pay him a fee of Rs. 10 for each 100 successful primary
vaccinations carried out by him. This procedure has been given effect to in
a small number of towns but it is reported not to have proved a success.
In most instances however the cause of failure is due to the fact that no
fee was sanctioned for the public vaccinator by the local body. It is hoped
that this omission will be made good and that the system of dispensary
vaccination in small Municipal towns, Small Towns and Notified Areas will
undergo a wide extension. In Dera Ghazi Khan District four small Municipal
towns have combined to entertain a vaccinator and the District Health Officer
is endeavouring to arrange a similar procedure in the case of certain small
towns in Muzaffargarh District and as this system may prove applicable else-
where it is proposed to bring it to the notice of other local bodies. The
average number of persons vaccinated by each vaccinator of the District and
Municipal staff was 2,929 in the year under review as compared with 3,061
during the previous year. The average figures by divisions for vaccinators
of Municipal Towns and District Boards respectively were as follows: —
Ambala Division ...
Jullundur Division ...
Lahore Division
...
Rawalpindi Division ...
Multan Division ...
Municipal Towns
1,198
1,395
2,012
1,438
1,084
District Boards,
2,846
3,731
3,334
3,145
3,466
Special
Staff.
Statement No. I and
its appendix.
8. The special staff performed 71, 75 vaccinations as compared with
44,520 in the previous year, which constitutes an increase of 26,655 The
number of primary vaccinations shows however a decrease of 2,464, as com-
pared with the previous year, the figures being 26,104 in 1924-25 as compared
with 28,048 in the previous year. On the other hand the number of re-vaccina-
tions rose from 15,872 in the year 1923-24, to 44,991 in the year under review.
The decrease in the number of primary vaccinations is reported to be due to
the increasing unpopularity of infantile vaccination in the Simla Hill States
whilst the increase in the number of re-vaccinations is stated to be due to the oc-
currence of an outbreak of smallpox in certain of the Simla Hill States. The
average number of vaccinations performed by each vaccinator was 5,079 as
compared with 3,169 in the previous year. Owing to the increasing difficulty ex-
perienced in carrying out vaccination in the Simla Hill States, the Superinten-
dent of the Hill States was asked to ascertain from the State authorities whether
they would prefer to appoint their own vaccinators and to forego the benefit
of free vaccination conferred upon them by the Punjab Government. It was
pointed out that although everything possible was being done and would
continue to be done to meet their wishes in regard to the date of vaccination
constant requests were being received asking for the postponement of vacci-
nation either because the weather was too hot or too cold, the people were
sowing or reaping their crops, disease was rampant or some religious
festival or marriage ceremony was about to be celebrated. The Superintendent
of the Hill States circulated a copy of this letter to the State authorities from
whose replies it would appear that, with few exceptions, they desire the present
arrangement to continue and they are prepared to give more active assistance
to the vaccination staff in future.