( 2 )
These results reflect credit on the officers concerned. A larger number of
operations than in the previous year was also performed in Calcutta and in
mufassal municipalities and dispensaries. Twenty-one districts show a falling
off, the decline being most marked in the following:—
District.
Dinajpur
...
...
...
...
Jessore
...
...
...
Khulna
...
...
...
...
Pabna
...
...
...
...
Rajshahi ... ... ... ...
Chittagong ... ... ... ...
Faridpur
...
...
...
...
Decrease.
9,243
8,586
8,229
7,904
6,956
6,189
5,648
The decrease is attributed in most cases to the prevalence of cholera,
malarial fever, and plague and to the general unhealthiness of the year. In
Jessore it is also due to the difficulty in realising the fees. In some districts
the work was retarded by the alarm occasioned by plague.
4. Protection afforded to infants.—Calculating the birth-rate for the
province at 50 per mille, the total number of infants under one year available
for vaccination was 3,076,043, of whom 619,068, or 201.25 per mille, were
successfully vaccinated, against 502,300 in the previous year. The improve-
ment is marked, but we are still very far from affording complete protection
to the infant population. As in the previous year, Darjeeling, Ranchi, and
Malda show the best results, while Patna, Puri, Shahabad, and Cuttack have
very low percentages, which is attributed to the strong opposition to vaccin-
ation, especially on infants.
In accordance with the orders of the Government of India, a statement
has for the first time been submitted showing the protection afforded to infants
in each town in the province. The proportion of successful operations per
mille was 443, which is more than double the provincial average. Many
towns, however, show disgracefully bad results. This is particularly noticeable
in the minor municipalities of the 24-Parganas, especially Basirhat, Baduria, and
Taki, in all those of Nadia, in all those of Hooghly except Kotrung, and in all
those of Midnapore except Tamluk. Others might be mentioned which
are nearly as bad. As the Compulsory Vaccination Act is in force in these
towns, there is no excuse for this, and the Lieutenant-Governor desires that
Magistrates and Civil Surgeons will show more activity in the matter. It is
not stated whether the Sanitary Commissioner drew their attention to it from
time to time as the monthly returns reached him. If not, it would be well if
this were regularly done in future.
5. Primary operations.—There was an increase of 116,699 primary vacci-
nations during the year 1899-1900 as compared with the previous year. The
percentage of successful operations is given as 97.67 as against 97.99. The
system of six-puncture vaccination has been generally introduced into the
province, and satisfactory results have been obtained in almost every place
except Calcutta.
6. Secondary operations.—The number of secondary operations decreased
from 60,167 to 48,537, of which 21,345 were performed in rural areas.
Dinajpur returns the largest decrease, viz., 11,997, which is stated to be due
to the unwillingness of the people to resort to revaccination. That the
Sanitary Commissioner should have reproduced this explanation without
comment shows that he has not troubled to examine his own figures. The
number of revaccinations in Dinajpur since 1893-94 has been as follows:—
1893-94 ... ...
1894-95 ... ...
1895-96 ... ...
4
489
349
1896-97 ... ...
1897-98 ... ...
1898-99 ... ...
1899-1900 ...
13,607
23,532
14,205
2,208
These extraordinary fluctuations, if real, would indicate some special
cause at work, which should have attracted the Sanitary Commissioner's
attention. But probably they mean nothing more than errors of classification.
The Sanitary Commissioner is requested to ascertain and report the true facts.
Calcutta and mufassal municipalities show an increase of 7,561 and 2,154
respectively. The percentage of successful cases was 49.59 against 67.34.