2
The total number of vaccinators employed by local bodies was 401 as
compared with 371 in the previous year. The increase is due to the enter-
tainment of ten additional vaccinators in Gurgaon district, seven in Shahpur,
four in Gujranwala, three each in Sialkot, and Lyallpur and two each in
Hoshiarpur and Rawalpindi and one each in Kangra, Ferozepore, Amritsar,
Sheikhupura, Attock and Mianwali. There was a reduction of two vaccinators
in Ambala, Jhelum and Jhang respectively and of one in Montgomery.
Total operations
done by all estab-
lishments—State-
ment No. I.
4. The total number of primary vaccinations and revaccinations carried
out by all establishments during the year 1927-28, was 1,292,384 as compared
with 1,242,090 during the previous year. This represents an increase of
50,294 vaccinations. Of the total number of operations 765,094 were recorded
as primary vaccinations and 527,290 as revaccinations as against 720,328
and 521,762 in the preceding year. There was thus an increase of 44,766
in the number of primary and of 5,528 in the number of revaccinations.
District and Muni-
cipal Staffs —
Statement No. I.
5. The total number of operations performed by the District and
Municipal staffs was 1,228,584 as against 1,144,641 in the previous year. Of
the total number of operations, 742,132 were primary vaccinations and
486,452 were revaccinations as compared with 697,464 and 447,177 res-
pectively, in the preceding year. Twenty-one districts reported an excess of
primary vaccinations over the figures for the preceding year, the most conspi-
cuous being Rohtak, (5,092) ; Muzaffargarh, (4,687) ; Amritsar, (4,372) ;
Hoshiarpur, (3,858) ; Multan, (3,685) ; Sheikhupura, (3,619) ; Jullundur,
(3,233); Ferozepore, (2,963); Karnal, (2,792); Montgomery, (2,311); and
Gujranwala, (2,093). In the remaining districts the increase varied from
1,937 in Gurdaspur to 289 in Lahore.
A small decrease in the number of primary vaccinations in the districts
of Kangra and Attock was attributed partly to the decrease in the birth-rate
and partly to the fact, that owing to the prevalence of small-pox, the vaccina-
tion staff was unable to pay a second visit to certain areas. In Attock district
the decrease in the number of children available for primary vaccination
amounted to 348 and the relatively low birth-rate does not therefore fully
account for a decrease of 1,148 in the number of primary vaccinations.
In respect of revaccinations eighteen districts showed an increase, the high-
est number being recorded in Gurgaon, (22,693) ; Amritsar, (13,579) ; and Jhang
(10,722). The large increase in the number of revaccinations in Gurgaon district
was the result of an organized campaign for which 10 extra vaccinators were
engaged by the District Board. During the course of my inspection of vac-
cination in this district, I found many children had been revaccinated at too
early an age and were in consequence " failures," whilst 5,668 young
children remained unvaccinated at the end of the year. The success of the
campaign was thus somewhat marred by a too slavish regard for the fetish
of numbers and it would have been wiser to have employed the vaccinators
in completing primary vaccination and in re-vaccinating children of eight
years and upwards.
In many of the small municipal towns and in Small Towns vaccination
is still carried out by vaccinators belonging to District Boards, but it is satis-
factory to note that several Small Town Committees have appointed their
own vaccinators whilst others, with limited means, have combined to employ
a joint vaccinator.
The total number of operations performed in municipal towns during the
year was 121,070 as against 132,660 in the preceding year, 74,131 being
primary vaccinations and 46,939 revaccinations ; these figures represent an
increase of 1,549 in the number of primary vaccinations and a decrease of
13,139 in the number of revaccinations as compared with the figures of the
preceding year.
The register, which was introduced in 1925 to enable District Medical
Officers of Health to watch the vaccinal condition of each village, is now in
use in all districts and it is satisfactory to note that its value is appreciated.