Smallpox Eradication in India
December 31, 1977
A book length report on the Smallpox Eradication Program in India, prepared for the Certification of the Eradication of Smallpox. The book is a basic document on the operation of the program with a huge amount of data and should be a source book for the program in India. On page 205 this statement sums up the immensity of the program: Autumn 1976 The last country-wide, house-to-house search was conducted in October and November 1976 and covered all States and Union Territories, The total number of health staff employed was the highest ever - 152 441 which is about 7 per cent more than the number employed during the spring search. This staff comprised 115 347 searchers, 29 046 supervisors and 8 048 assessors. The involvement of malaria and family planning staff in the search activities was substantially increased being on an average 27.3 per cent of the total number of health workers involved in the spring search and 19.7 per cent in the autumn search, varying substantially, of course, in different States and Union Territories, Altogether, 668 332 villages and 1 434 municipalities were reported to have been searched. No smallpox case was detected but 20 076 chickenpox outbreaks with 41 485 cases and 29 deaths were detected. Of these outbreaks, 93,6 per cent were verified by experienced workers either during the search or immediately after the search period.
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