An honest reckoning: On simmering dispute between India and WHO about COVID deaths
The HinduThe visit of Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, to Gujarat for the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit coincides with a simmering dispute between India and WHO on its forthcoming report on excess COVID-19 deaths between 2020 and 2021. A report in The New York Times claims that WHO estimates India accounted for four million deaths, or about eight times the current official toll of 5.2 lakh. A high death toll undermines India’s official discourse that it has performed better than several western countries with better developed health infrastructure. While it is possible that researchers could use indirect methods that may overestimate the toll, it is indefensible on India’s part to maintain that its official estimates offer a more accurate picture. India must also officially commission a team of experts, supply them with the best available data, and have them independently investigate excess deaths, publishing their methods and numbers, without fear or favour, in reputed journals.