Health

India accounts for 22% of global COVID deaths


The excess number of deaths, the difference between the number of recorded deaths from all causes and the expected number based on past trends, is the key measure for assessing the true death toll of a pandemic. .

However, the study shows 4.1 million deaths caused by the pandemic in India as of December 31, 2021 and the country tops the list of around 7 countries accounting for more than half of the deaths. worldwide due to the pandemic over a 24-month period. .

The other countries are the US (1.1 million), Russia (1.1 million), Mexico (798,000), Brazil (792,000), Indonesia (736,000) and Pakistan (664,000).

Among these countries, excess mortality is highest in Russia (375 deaths per 100,000) and Mexico (325 deaths per 100,000), and similarly in Brazil (187 deaths per 100,000) and America (179 deaths per 100,000 people).

Due to its large population, India alone accounts for about 22% of all global deaths, the results show.

With 5.3 million excess deaths, South Asia has the highest estimated number of Covid-19 deaths, followed by North Africa and the Middle East (1.7 million) and Eastern Europe (1.4 million). .

Researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent global health research center at the University of Washington, say the numbers show the full impact the pandemic could have much larger.

Calculating the difference between overestimated deaths and officially reported deaths provides a yardstick for underestimating the true death toll of the pandemic, the researchers added.

Furthermore, the analysis found that the excess mortality to reported mortality rate was much greater in South Asia (9.5 times higher than reported deaths) and sub-Saharan Africa. (deaths are 14.2 times higher than reported) compared to other regions.

The large discrepancy between the number of deaths and the official record may be the result of poor diagnosis due to lack of testing and problems with mortality data reporting, the researchers wrote in the paper. death”.

The new study provides the first peer-reviewed estimate of the number of excess deaths from the pandemic globally and for 191 countries and territories (and 252 local locations such as states and provinces) in the period from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021.

Weekly or monthly data on all-cause mortality for 2021, 2020 and up to the previous 11 years was collected for 74 countries and 266 states and provinces through searches on government websites, World mortality database, Human mortality database and European Statistical Office.

The researchers note that distinguishing between deaths caused directly by Covid-19 and those that occurred as a result of indirect consequences of the pandemic (such as suicide or drug use as a result of the pandemic) behavior change or lack of access to health care).

“Understanding the true death toll from the pandemic is critical to making effective public health decisions. Studies from several countries, including Sweden and the Netherlands, show that Covid-19 is direct cause of most excess deaths, but we currently don’t have enough evidence for most sites.Further research will help reveal how many Covid-19 deaths directly and how many cases occur as an indirect consequence of the pandemic,” said lead author Dr Haidong Wang, from IHME.

Source: IANS



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