16
VACCINATION REPORT.
to the other districts was abandoned during the year. The Government have,
however, ordered that steps should be taken to improve the pay and prospects of
the vaccination staffs throughout the rural areas in the hope of improving the
quality of their work. There can be no doubt that the greatest defect in the
present system of vaccination is the vaccinator himself. Many of the vaccinators
are men of very little education who have no intelligent conception of their work
and are consequently incapable of performing it satisfactorily. The large majority
of them are men of the social level of peons and command little respect from the
public. With a salary commencing at Rs. 7 per mensem and in a few cases even
at Rs. 5, men of a better standard can hardly be expected. There is little to be
gained by improving the pay and prospects of the present set of vaccinators.
What is required for real improvement is a new set of vaccinators who are
either Certificated Sanitary Inspectors with the necessary vaccination training or
selected men of sufficient general education who are specially trained for the pur
pose at a Central Institution. Proposals for the improvement of the vaccination
staff are being received from Presidents of District Boards and considered by
Government. It would be a good thing indeed if these proposals are given effect
to as they are approved instead of waiting until proposals for all the districts are
received and sanctioned.
(ii) The total vaccination work performed during the last two years by all
agencies throughout the Presidency is shown in the following table :—
—
Primary vaccination ... ... ...
Re-vaccination
...
...
...
Total ...
1913-14.
1,527,112
150,584
1,677,696
1914-15.
1,512,515
176,407
1,688,922
The number of cases vaccinated during 1914-15 shows an increase of 11,226
over that of the previous year. Largest increases are noticeable in the districts
of Gōdāvari (+ 18,384) and Vizagapatam (+ 12,498). The districts which
showed a decrease were Coimbatore (— 8,387), Trichinopoly (— 6,073), Salem
(— 4,320), South Canara (— 3,340), Chingleput (— 3,280) and South Arcot
(— 3,001). The reasons assigned by the Deputy Inspectors of Vaccination for
the decrease in the above named districts were (1) comparative freedom from
small-pox during the year, (2) failure to appoint promptly suitable substitutes
during absence on leave of vaccinators and (3) plague scare and prevalence of
cholera.
(iii) The following table shows the total successful vaccination by all agencies
and the percentage of successful cases including re-vaccination:—
Establishment.
(1)
Local Fund vaccinators ...
Government do. ...
Municipal
do. ...
Cantonment do.
...
Dispensaries ...
Medical subordinates ...
Total ...
Number of successful vaccinations.
1913-14.
Primary
vaccination.
(2)
l,223,086
17,015
106,611
4,916
6
114
1,351,748
Re-vaccination.
(3)
73,796
1,597
26,160
4,212
10
5,363
111,138
1914-15.
Primary
vaccination.
(4)
1,186,576
17,892
108,742
3,949
1
117
1,317,277
Re-vaccination.
(5)
94,550
891
22,223
6,462
15
4,985
129,126
Total of successful
vaccinations.
1913-14.
(6)
1,296,882
18,612
132,771
9,128
16
5,477
1,462,886
1914-15.
(7)
1,281,126
18,783
130,965
10,411
16
5,102
1,446,403
Ratio per cent. of
successful cases.
1913-14
Primary
vaccination.
(8)
91.5
91.2
95.7
95.0
100.0
85.7
91.8
Re-vaccination.
(9)
84.3
91.5
75.0
68.5
90.9
69.6
80.5
1914-15.
Primary
vaccination.
(10)
90.5
90.5
94.7
89.6
100.0
92.9
90.8
Re-vaccination.
(11)
84.3
87.0
73.5
53.6
75.0
65.0
79.1
Ratio percent.
of total suc¬
cessful cases.
1913-14.
(12)
91.1
91.2
90.8
80.6
94.1
69.9
90.9
1914-15.
(13)
90.0
90.3
90.3
63.2
76.2
65.4
89.6