BackPandemic year fatalities rose by 6.2%; 1.42 lakh died due to Covid in 2020: Centre
The Centre published the Civil Registration System (CRS) report 2020 based on birth and death reports. And, as per this data, the number of registered deaths has gone up from 76.4 lakh in 2019 to 81.2 lakhs in 2020, an increase of 6.2%
PremiumAhead of the World Health Organization (WHO) Covid-related death data whoso methodology India has opposed, the country has released its own figures. As per the union government's data on Covid-19 mortality, India registered about 475,000 more total deaths in 2020 than the previous year. The WHO is likely to release the data on Covid mortalities on Thursday, April 5.
In a statement by Dr VK Paul member of (Health), Niti Aayog said that the number of deaths 4.75 lakh in 2020 reported by the Civil Registration System 2020 (CRS) shows 'the truth' around the fatalities reported and it further helps in analysing the mortality load of the country.
He asserted that "exorbitant" multiples of coronavirus deaths being published by some agencies with respect to India must stop.
Paul referred to a recent publication in the Lancet which claimed that India's estimated cumulative Covid deaths between January 2020 and December 2021 were over eight times higher than reported.
The documented deaths due to Covid in India over that period was around 4,89,000, the Lancet had claimed in its paper entitled 'Estimating excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic analysis of COVID-19-related mortality, 2020-21'.
However, this week the Centre published the Civil Registration System (CRS) report 2020 based on birth and death reports.
And, as per this data, the number of registered deaths has gone up from 76.4 lakh in 2019 to 81.2 lakhs in 2020, an increase of 6.2%.
Explaining the science and statistics behind the number of deaths, the NITI Aayog member said, "The number of deaths includes fatalities reported due to all the causes including Covid-19, natural, maternal, infant, everything".
Terming the data as 'simple truth' that has been derived from a well-supervised robust system, "It is not a question of which model has been adopted. It is a simple truth derived from a well robust system. No particular model. It is a system shaped and curated for many years."
As per the Union Health ministry's website, deaths due to Covid (as of April 28, 2022) are a total of 5,23,693. Out of which 1,48,994 people died in the year 2020, which increased to 3,32,492 in 2021 and 40,207 in 2022.
According to Paul, more death registration is also happening because people are conscious, that people need death certificates for property and other purposes.
He pointed out that excess death registration increase has been noted in previous years despite a declining death rate and no outbreaks.
"So, we must remember that extra deaths are not due to Covid-19 deaths, but there are other reasons and causes as well," he asserted.
The NITI Aayog member also noted that there is an increase in population and this must have contributed to deaths.
He said the CRS report is based on data from the ground level and data from across districts etc are captured meticulously.
Countries around the world reported only 1.83 million Covid-19 deaths in 2020 but the WHO estimates excess mortality of at least 3 million globally for that year.
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