Govt rejects study claiming '8 times more deaths' during Covid pandemic

The Health Ministry has dismissed an international study published in Science Advances, which claimed that India saw 11.9 lakh excess deaths in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. The government criticized the study as "methodologically flawed," calling its results "untenable and unacceptable."

According to the study, the excess death estimate is about eight times higher than the official Covid-19 death count in India and 1.5 times higher than the World Health Organization's estimates. Researchers, including those from the University of Oxford, noted that unlike high-income countries where excess deaths were higher among men, India's data suggested a different pattern.

In response, the Health Ministry stated that the excess mortality reported in the study is a gross overestimate. They emphasized that India's robust Civil Registration System (CRS), which recorded a significant increase in death registrations in 2020, disputes the study's findings.

NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr. VK Paul explained that the study used data from the National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2021. He highlighted that this survey covered only 14 states and UTs and was not representative of the entire nation. Additionally, only a portion of households in these regions were surveyed, leading to conclusions that Dr. Paul deemed unreflective of the broader national context.

In summary, the Health Ministry rejected the study's claims, reinforcing the credibility of India's official Covid-19 death statistics and the integrity of its Civil Registration System.