WHO Report Claims 4.7 Million Covid Deaths In India, Govt Calls Data 'Questionable'

WHO on Covid Death: A report of the World Health Organization (WHO) that said there were 4.7 million Covid-related deaths in India, 10 times the official figures.

Family members wearing PPE kit performing last rites of a person who died of COVID-19

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New Delhi: India on Thursday objected to a report of the World Health Organization (WHO) that said there were 4.7 million Covid-related deaths in India between January 2020 and December 2021, 10 times the official figures and almost a third of coronavirus deaths globally. According to government figues, India had recorded about 5,20,000 fatalities due to Covid in the same period.

The government said validity and robustness of the models used and methodology of data collection for the report were questionable.

"Despite India's objection to the process, methodology and outcome of this modelling exercise, WHO has released the excess mortality estimates without adequately addressing India's concerns," the statement said.

In its report, the WHO estimated that nearly 15 million people were killed either due to Covid-19 or by its impact on overwhelmed health systems in the past two years. This is more than double the official toll of 6 million. Most of the fatalities were in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas, the report noted.

Asserting that registration of births and deaths in India was "extremely robust", the Union Health Ministry called WHO's methodology of data collection "statistically unsound and scientifically questionable".  

"WHO till date has not responded to India's contention. India has consistently questioned WHO's own admission that data in respect of seventeen Indian states was obtained from some websites and media reports and was used in their mathematical model. This reflects a statistically unsound and scientifically questionable methodology of data collection for making excess mortality projections in case of India," the statement said.

The government also said that with authentic data published through Civil Registration System (CRS) by the Registrar General of India (RGI) available, mathematical models should not be used for projecting excess mortality numbers for India.

The government highlighted that national reports were published annually by the RGI based on data submitted by states and UTs.

"India firmly believes that such robust and accurate data generated through Legal Framework of a Member State must be respected, accepted and used by WHO rather than relying on less than accurate mathematical projection based on non-official sources of data," the statement further said.