No. 1275 L., 7TH AUGUST 1901.
GOVERNMENT OF MADRAS.
LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL DEPARTMENT.
READ—the following paper:—
From Major A. E. GRANT, I.M.S., Acting Sanitary Commissioner for Madras,
to the Secretary to Government, Local and Municipal Department, dated
15th July 1901, No. 1454-S.
I have the honour to forward the accompanying report of the Inspector of
Vaccination and Deputy Sanitary Commissioner on the work of the Vaccination
department for the official year ending 31st March last.
2. Unlike the two previous years in which, owing to the plague scare in certain
districts, there was a retrogression in the outturn of work, the year under review
was characterised by an advance which is satisfactory.
3. The total number of cases verified during the year by the Inspector of
Vaccination and Deputy Sanitary Commissioner cannot be ascertained. From the
14th September 1900 to 18th March 1901, i.e., whilst I held the above appointment,
I verified 1,252 cases. This number would ordinarily be very much higher. During
the greater part of this time, and owing chiefly to the indisposition of the Sanitary
Commissioner, I was employed on other duties than those connected with vaccination.
It must also be noted that the details of procedure in regard to verification vary very
widely. So far as I am concerned, I attempted strictly to follow the instructions of
Lieut.-Colonel King, viz., to confine my attention to a few cases selected by myself
and to satisfy myself that I actually verified those particular cases and no others.
This method entails much careful questioning and cross examination, besides a large
amount of walking about in town or village, and I found that only about seven cases
could be verified in one hour, on an average. In the Jeypore Agency, however, the
method was quite hopeless (vide G.O., No. 521, Judicial, dated 2nd April 1901) and
I had to trust to careful scrutiny of the children collected. By having all the cases
for verification collected beforehand in a town or village, and simply ticking them off,
after an examination of their arms, it is possible to secure a very large total ; but I am
of opinion that such a procedure is of little value, and that a small number of cases
really verified is worth far more than a large total obtained in the manner above
described.
4. So far as I can gather from the various means and sources of information at
my disposal, there is little doubt that the interruption of the regular inspection of
ranges and of municipalities by the Inspector of Vaccination and Deputy Sanitary
Commissioner, owing chiefly to plague, has acted most adversely on the Vaccination
department, and in ways which do not necessarily affect the total of cases vaccinated.
It is, therefore, highly desirable that the present arrangement, by which the one
Inspector of Vaccination and Deputy Sanitary Commissioner of this Presidency (as
compared with five in Bombay, three in Bengal and two in the North-West Provinces)
is prevented from touring through the districts for nine months out of twelve, should
be altered as speedily as possible and things restored to the status quo ante.
5. Owing partly to the late receipt of the vaccination returns (vide G.O., No. 830
L., dated 20th May 1901), partly to the recent changes in both the Sanitary Com-
missionership and Deputy Sanitary Commissionership, partly to excess of other work
and partly to the late receipt (9th July) of G.O., No. 1068 L., dated 28th June 1901,