View report page

39
ADMINISTRATION OF THE VACCINATION ACTS.
On the 25th June, 1896, the Delegates appointed by the Vestries and
District Boards of the Metropolis, upon the invitation of your Vestry, met in
Conference at the Vestry Hall of St. Pancras to consider the administration
of the Vaccination Acts, and the question of the transfer of the control of
vaccination from Poor Law Authorities to Sanitary Authorities.
Attention was directed to the serious local epidemics of Small-pox that
had occurred in varionr parts of the country, and to the difficulties that had
arisen in each of these outbreaks, due to the division of authority between the
Sanitary Authorities and the Poor Law Guardians in the prevention of the
spread of Small-pox.
It was concluded that the various means for coping with the disease and the
prevention of its spread should be in the hands of one Authority, and this for
many reasons which were adduced.
The question whether vacciuation should be compulsory or not was not
touched upon; this point was left to the Royal Commission to report upon.
It does not affect the control of vaccination, for, whether compulsory or not,
all sensible people will still continue to be vaccinated, and public vacci nation
will continue to require to be organised.
Vaccination is a measure for the prevention of disease and not for the cure
of disease. Sanitary Authorities deal with the prevention of disease;
Guardian Boards, when they deal with disease, deal with the cure of disease.
Sanitary Authorities deal with protection of the whole community—rich
and poor alike—from disease, and especially communicable disease. Boards
of Guardians deal with the treatment only of the absolutely indigent. The
connection of pauperism with vaccination has been its greatest bane, from the
fear of the loss of civil rights and of self-respecting independence.
The transfer of vaccination from Boards of Guardians to Sanitary
Authorities would place the whole machinery of the prevention of Small-pox
in one organization, the relative parts of which could be mutually adapted
to suppress smoothly and expeditiously any appearance of epidemic.
If vaccination were in the hands of Sanitary Authorities it would obviate
much misunderstanding, especially at the most serious and important time of
an outbreak of Small-pox, when the means of prevention being in the hands
of two Authorities in the same locality leads to much confusion, counter
proposal, and delay.
When there is no epidemic a division of authority is not felt, but in time,
of epidemic the hour of trial comes, the difficulties arise, and in every
epidemic there have invariably been serious delay and confusion of responsibility
at the very time when smoothness and rapidity of working is most
essential.