The number of registered deaths increased from 76.4 lakhs in 2019 to 81.2 lakhs in 2020 and out of the total registered deaths the share of male and female are 60.2% and 39.8% respectively,’’ noted the report on ‘Vital Statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System’ for the year 2020.
The report adds that based on information provided from 34 States/Union Territories, the share of institutional deaths in total registered deaths is 28.0%.
”India faced its first COVID-19 wave during 2020 and this information released through the report is vital in terms of giving India and all agencies which wants to use these figures for analysis on how health systems need to be best worked with to minimise human tragedy during a pandemic,’’ said Dr. V. K. Paul, member (Health) NITI Aayog, on Tuesday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to release an estimate of COVID-19 deaths, from across the world, during the pandemic period and indicates excess deaths in India. The Indian government responded to this earlier saying that it has objection to the report centered on the “methodology adopted for the same”.
“The numbers presented here in this report are the absolute, correct numbers. These are not modelled numbers based on assumptions. We have found through the pandemic that assumptions and models don’t really work. Infact this report presents us with numbers from every district, male-female break up and age wise break-up of the deaths. Of course all the deaths reported are not COVID deaths. The COVID deaths have been systematically collected and released by the Health Ministry regularly,’’ he said.
He added that the numbers collected and released through this system comes from the continuous, permanent, compulsory and universal recording of the vital events (births, deaths, stillbirths).
The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 (Act No. 18 of 1969) provides for the compulsory registration of births and deaths.
“Ideally, an annual report on vital statistics containing more detailed information should have been brought out. However, due to limited availability of information contained in the annual reports of some of the States, the report for the year 2020 containing key information of events pertaining to the time period 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2020 has been brought out for the convenience of users,’’ states the report.
Dr. Paul speaking about the rise in COVID-19 cases again in the country said that the pandemic isn’t over yet. “We have a large population that has the protective cover of a vaccine and we have to remember to use the mask. We still don’t know everything about the nature and behaviour of the virus hence precaution continues to be our best weapon,’’ he said.
