Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Livemint
Livemint
National
Livemint

India's excess Covid-19 deaths highest in the world, says WHO

The government said that in 2020, when Covid-19 was first reported in the country, 1.48 lakh people lost their lives due to the pandemic (HT)

However, India has strongly objected to the use of mathematical models by the WHO for projecting excess mortality estimates.

Referring to the new figures, the central government said in a statement on Thursday that the validity and robustness of the models used and the methodology of data collection are questionable.

The statement said that India has been consistently objecting to the methodology adopted by WHO to project excess mortality estimates based on mathematical models and despite objection to the process, methodology and outcome of this modelling exercise, WHO has released the excess mortality estimates without adequately addressing India's concerns.

India had also informed WHO that in view of the availability of authentic data published through the Civil Registration System (CRS) by the Registrar General of India (RGI), mathematical models should not be used for projecting excess mortality numbers for India.

"Registration of births and deaths in India is extremely robust and is governed by decades-old statutory legal framework i.e. 'Births & Deaths Registration Act, 1969'. The Civil Registration data, as well as Sample Registration data released annually by RGI, has been used by a large number of researchers, policymakers and scientists both domestically and globally," the statement said.

The government said that in 2020, when Covid-19 was first reported in the country, 1.48 lakh people lost their lives due to the pandemic, which is substantially lower than in 2021, when 3.32 lakh people died due to the disease.

The WHO has said that it had not yet fully examined new data provided this week by India. The agency plans to update its estimate as more data emerge.

Excess deaths worldwide 

The death toll associated with Covid-19 directly or indirectly may have climbed to almost 1.5 crore between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 across the globe, the WHO has said. 

The figure is almost three times the official count (54 lakh) of deaths directly attributable to Covid-19 and reported to WHO in that period.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.