( 13A )
APPENDIX D.
No. 412 / V 267B-12 of 1893.
RESOLUTION.
SANITATION DEPARTMENT.
Dated Naini Tal, the 23rd September 1893.
READ—
Letter No 422, dated 15th July 1893, from the Sanitary Commissioner; North-Western Provinces and
Oudh.
Letter No. G.3618, dated 15th July 1893, from the Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals.
OBSERVATIONS.—In February 1893 the Government of India suggested to this
Government as a matter for consideration whether an improvement might not be effect-
ed in the vaccination operations of these Provinces by entrusting the control over muni-
cipal and district vaccination to Civil Surgeons of districts. As regards municipalities,
vaccination has long been nominally controlled by Civil Surgeons : in 1884 orders
were issued appointing Civil Surgeons ex-officio Superintendents of Vaccination in all
municipalities of their districts, and laying down rules for the inspection by them of
the vaccinators' work both at headquarters and in outlying towns. Since 1884 the
Vaccination Act, 1880, has been extended to nearly all the municipalities and canton-
ments of North-Western Provinces and Oudh: with the exception of one municipality,
which has its own special Health Officer, the Civil Surgeon has been invariably appoin-
ted Superintendent of Vaccination in municipalities situated at headquarters of dis-
tricts, and either he or his assistant has been appointed Superintendent in canton-
ments : in outlying municipalities an Assistant Surgeon or Hospital Assistant has been
generally appointed, as the Act imposes on the Superintendent duties which can only
be performed by a resident of the town. One of the chief duties of the Superintendent
is to ascertain whether all unprotected children, under the age of fourteen if boys, and
under the age of eight years if girls, within the local area under his superintendence
have been vaccinated, and to take measures to secure that parents or guardians present
unprotected children of the ages above specified for vaccination if they have omitted to
do so of their own accord. The Superintendent is further required by the Act and the
rules made thereunder to grant certificates to parents and guardians of insusceptibility
of successful vaccination, to determine the places within the circle at which operations
shall be performed, to supervise work undertaken by town vaccinators beyond the limits
of the circle, to arrange for the distribution of lymph and for the cultivation, where ne-
cessary, of animal lymph, and to submit monthly statements and annual reports and
returns to the Deputy Sanitary Commissioner of the circle. Finally in the case of
misconduct, public vaccinators are suspended or dismissed from office by the Muni-
cipal Board or Cantonment Committee on the recommendation of the Superintendent.
2. The Lieutenant-Governor and Chief Commissioner has reason to believe that
the duties which have been thus imposed on Civil Surgeons as Superintendents of
Vaccination in municipalities and cantonments have not been efficiently performed :
sufficient interest has not been taken in the work, which has been left to the officials
of the Vaccination Department, to perform without the local control that has been ex-
pressly provided for by the Government. In his report for the year 1892-93 the
Superintendent-General of Vaccination complains that animal lymph depôts at some
places were inefficiently supervised and controlled, to such an extent apparently as
to force upon his consideration the advisability of the abolition of some minor depôts.
The remedy however lies in the enforcement of proper supervision : animal lymph
depôts must be maintained in an efficient condition by Civil Surgeons wherever the
prejudice against arm-to-arm vaccination renders such a course necessary, and His
Honor expects the heads of the Medical and Sanitation Departments to take steps to
secure this result. Compulsory vaccination of children exists at present only in name :
it is intended by the Government that it should become a reality now that the Vacci-
nation Act has been universally applied throughout the Provinces. It is observed
D