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Dated Benares, 11th April, 1873.
From—JOHN MACGREGOR, ESQ., Offg. Supdt. of Vaccination, Benares Division,
To—F. PEARSON, ESQ., Supdt.-General of Vaccination, N.-W. Provinces,
SIR,— I have the honour to forward the following report on the vaccination
work of this circle for the cold weather period of 1872-73.
2. I received charge from Dr. Richardson on the 26th October, and made over
charge to Dr. Smith on the 15th March. During this interval I visited every tehseel,
and inspected the work of every vaccinator in the Division, except that of four local
men who were entertained in Mirzapore subsequent to my inspection of that district.
3. Being inexperienced, I acted on the supposition that it was expected of me if
possible to visit systematically the work of every vaccinator under me, but I now feel
assured that it is a course of procedure open to very serious objections. So long as the
system is voluntary, the duty of the Superintendent is no less in persuading the people
to accept of the prophylactic than in inspecting the work done. With such a vast range
of country to travel over, the latter may be somewhat satisfactorily accomplished,
but the former, and perhaps the more important, to only a limited extent. A visit, for
example, to the Robertsgunje tehseel of Mirzapore entailed eight days' marching
through a wild and thinly-peopled district where vaccination is never heard of. If
the time thus fruitlessly spent were engaged in co-operating with the vaccinators of
Chunar and Mirzapore, a greater outturn of cases would have been recorded, as Natives
place more reliance on a white face than on any of their own countrymen. It has been
found, too, that sometimes very promising fields have been neglected for others more con-
veniently situated for the purpose of inspection. However conscientiously the Superin-
tendent conducts his inspection duty, when over the whole circle, he cannot avoid the
conviction that it is unsatisfactory and desultory.
My own impression is that if half
the Division were itinerated in alternate years, the amount of work would be greater,
and the inspection more rigidly conducted. The perfect system of registration now
in vogue precludes the possibility of falsifying returns without detection even a year
subsequently.
4. From the tabular statements appended it will be seen that the amount over-
taken is 6,924 in excess of last year, the numbers being 51,792 against 44,867. The
percentage of success has, I regret to say, fallen from 88.1 to 87.7.
5. The number of regularly entertained vaccinators is greater by 25, but the
number of actual operators is much less. For the last two or three years, one, some-
times two or three, oomedwars were authorized to work in each tehseel, and their returns
being added to the vaccinator's, it is now impossible to give the average work of a vac-
cinator in this Division for previous years.
6. With regard to the 25 additional men, six are apprentices, seven are local men
entertained at the beginning of January, and one in March; the rest were working during
the whole period.
7. There are still oomedwars in every district working in the hope of future
employment; but, as a rule, their amount of work does not much modify the vaccinator's
average.
The only district in which they are recognized is Ghazeepore. In view of the
increase of staff for next cold weather, a number of men were trained and supplied with
instruments, on the understanding that the most successful among them were to obtain
permanent appointments. The result will be, that Ghazeepore will have by far the best
vaccinators in the circle. The number of oomedwars account in great measure for the
excess of work in this district.
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