Resolution on the Vaccination Report in Assam for 1886-87.

Extract from the Proceedings of the Chief Commissioner of Assam in the General Depart-
                        ment, No. 5,447, dated Shillong, the 14th September 1887.

READ—

        The Annual Report on Vaccination in Assam for 1886-87.

                                RESOLUTION.

THIS Report, which was due in the Secretariat on the 1st July, bears date the 18th
of that month, and was not received in print till the 9th September. Dr. Eteson was in
charge of the department during the whole of the year.

Vaccinating staff.

2. The total staff engaged on the work of vaccination during the year was 214,
against 209 in 1885-86. In the latter year, a large increase
of 40 additional vaccinators, of whom 30 were paid by
Local Boards, was made to the staff. This year the increase is only 5. Four more
Local Fund vaccinators were at work, four more Hospital-Assistants, and three more
compounders. On the other hand, Dr. Eteson shows only 8, against 11 Civil Surgeons,
no Assistant Surgeon, and two licensed vaccinators fewer than last year. The three Civil
Surgeons of Sylhet, the Nága, and the Gáro Hills are, it is presumed, excluded, because
they performed no operations with their own hands; but as inspecting officers they took
part in the work of the department, and should, therefore, have found a place in the
statement. Of the 214 operators, 16 formed the inspecting agency (8 Civil Surgeons
and 8 Native Inspectors), 34 were Hospital-Assistants, and 9 compounders belonging
to dispensaries who have other duties besides vaccination to attend to, and 155 formed the
departmental executive staff, distributed thus:—

1885-86.

1886-87.

Provincial vaccinators ............................

42

42

Local Fund ditto ..........................

70

74

Municipal ditto ................................

9

9

Licensed ditto .................................

32

30

Total ..............................

153

155

Vaccinations performed.

3. The following statement shows the total number of
vaccinations performed by vaccinators of all classes in each
district during the past five years:—

Population,
Census of
1881.

1882-83.

1883-84.

1884-85.

1885-86.

1886-87.

Sylhet ........................

1,969,009

16,199

23,241

18,896

25,015

28,083

Cachar .......................

313,858

4,692

5,073

4,757

9,503

10,646

Goalpára .....................

446,232

6,940

14,477

16,691

15,352

11,088

Kámrúp.....................

644,960

5,687

8,788

9,872

15,858

14,653

Darrang .......................

273,333

8,716

5,194

9,012

9,681

11,417

Nowgong ......................

310,579

2,548

2,983

10,879

6,819

10,775

Sibságar .......................

370,274

3,155

3,606

4,971

12,994

16,450

Lakhimpur ................

179,893

3,087

5,398

6,629

8,005

6,214

Khási Hills ...................

169,360

1,045

1,861

3,659

4,279

3,209

Gáro „ .....................

109,548

2,432

7,263

8,688

7,641

8,222

Nága „ .....................

94,380

363

473

1,228

495

1,143

Total ..................

4,881,426

54,864

78,357

95,282

115,642

121,900

In tea-gardens by garden
agency.

......

2,243

10,336

8,449

6,249

6,933

Others ........................

......

732

......

......

......

......

Grand Total .............

......

57,839

88,693

103,731

121,891

128,833

Excluding operations on tea-gardens, which are imperfectly reported, there has been
an advance of 6,258 vaccinations, or 5.4 per cent., upon the figures of the previous year.
Sylhet, Cachar, Darrang, and Sibságar show a greater number of operations than has
ever before been attained, while Nowgong, Kámrúp, and the Gáro and Nága Hills fall
little below the maximum of previous years. By far the best result, having regard to the
population of the district, is exhibited by Sibságar; and the Chief Commissioner is gra-
tified to find that it is due to a Native Assistant-Surgeon, Babu Annada Prasád Ghosh,
who was in medical charge of the district throughout the year. Retrogression is exhi-
bited by Goálpára (which has this year a less total than in any of the previous three),
Lakhimpur, and the Khási Hills.