Coronavirus: India slams WHO for 4.75 million pandemic death toll estimate – 10 times official count
- The figure, with an estimated range of 3.3 to 6.5 million, would ascribe almost one-third of the world’s pandemic-related deaths to India
- The country officially reported 481,000 Covid-19 deaths for 2020-21. Its health ministry said the WHO ‘conveniently chose to ignore the available data’
The figure, with an estimated range of 3.3 to 6.5 million, would ascribe almost one-third of the world’s pandemic-related deaths to India. The country officially reported 481,000 Covid-19 deaths for 2020-21.
The WHO figures, termed as excess mortality, are calculated as the difference between the number of deaths that occurred and the number that would have been expected in the absence of the pandemic.
After WHO released the numbers on Thursday, New Delhi said it had consistently opposed the UN health agency’s calculation methods.
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The Indian health and family welfare ministry in a statement accused WHO of publishing the data “without adequately addressing India’s concerns”.
Given the availability of “authentic data”, it said, “mathematical models should not be used for projecting excess mortality numbers for India”.
The country’s size, diversity and population of 1.3 billion meant the ‘one size fits all’ approach and model “cannot be applicable to India”, the ministry said.
“WHO, for reasons best known to them, conveniently chose to ignore the available data submitted by India,” it added.
Officially India says just under 525,000 people have died in the country from Covid-19, including deaths recorded this year.
Experts have consistently believed the true toll was several times higher.
Samira Asma, the WHO’s data chief, said the agency held a series of consultations with New Delhi and would continue “to engage with colleagues from India”.
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“We need to honour the lives tragically cut short, lives we lost – and we must hold ourselves and our policymakers accountable,” Asma told a press conference on Thursday.
India’s main opposition Congress party on Friday demanded a hefty rise in compensation for the families of those who died of Covid-19, following the WHO announcement.
He asked the government to compensate the families of each person dying of Covid-19 with 400,000 rupees (US$5,250). The government currently gives 50,000 once deaths are confirmed to be from coronavirus.
The WHO said it had not yet fully examined new data provided this week by India, and it may add a disclaimer to its report highlighting ongoing conversations with India.
Some Indian states, nevertheless, have agreed to compensate more families than their official tally suggests.
Modi’s home state of Gujarat, for example, has recorded around 11,000 Covid-19 fatalities since the start of the pandemic but has approved at least 87,000 compensation claims.
Additional reporting by Reuters