WHO Covid demise report ‘baseless’, try and ‘tarnish’ India’s picture, say well being ministers 

By PTI

GUJARAT: May 7 (PTI) Health ministers of various states who attended the 14th convention of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW) have slammed WHO for its estimate of 4.7 million Covid-related deaths in India, saying it’s “baseless” and “intended to show the country in a poor light”.

They mentioned India has a sturdy, environment friendly and complete system for registering deaths and all Covid fatalities are systematically recorded transparently following a authorized course of.

On Friday, a decision was handed on the convention strongly objecting to WHO’s estimates of Covid deaths in India.

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It said the WHO estimate is “unacceptable” to India and the modelling methodology utilized by the worldwide well being physique to achieve the determine was “flawed”.

The three-day convention of the CCHFW, an apex advisory physique of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, started in Gujarat’s Kevadia on Thursday.

It was chaired by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

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Karnataka Health Minister Okay Sudhakar questioned the modelling methodology utilized by WHO to reach on the demise estimate, alleging that it was an try and “tarnish” India’s status.

“There is no rationale behind the modelling methodology used by WHO to arrive at the estimate. All health ministers at the conference here have condemned the report and passed a resolution against it. We have urged Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to convey India’s disappointment to WHO and raise it at higher international forums,” he informed PTI.

“We stand by our numbers because there is a robust, legal and transparent system for data collection and Covid mortality surveillance. It’s a sheer attempt to malign India which has done good work on Covid management. There seems to be a malafide intention behind the report,” Sudhakar mentioned.

Punjab Health Minister Vijay Singla alleged that WHO’s demise estimate was “fabricated” and it has not made a correct calculation to reach on the determine of 47.4 lakh Covid-related deaths.

“India has a strong data collection system and there is no reason to doubt its authenticity. The modelling methodology used by the global health body was not scientific,” he mentioned.

Madhya Pradesh Minister of Medical Education Vishwas Sarang alleged there was a conspiracy to belittle India’s achievements on the COVID-19 entrance ranging from the low mortality charge to the excessive vaccination protection.

“The figures by WHO are erroneous and not based on sound mathematics. All health ministers at the conference rejected the WHO report saying it was not founded on facts,” he mentioned informed PTI.

Sarang mentioned that “20 to 22 health ministers, including those from states not ruled by the BJP, unanimously rejected the WHO report”.

Echoing related sentiments, Health Minister of Sikkim M Okay Sharma and his Bihar counterpart Mangal Pandey alleged that the WHO report was “devoid of facts” and its modelling methodology was “not scientific”.

It’s a deliberate try and painting India in a poor gentle, they claimed, including registration of births and deaths within the nation is extraordinarily strong and is ruled by the decades-old statutory authorized framework the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1969.

The Union Health Ministry on Thursday strongly objected to the mathematical fashions utilized by WHO for projecting extra mortality estimates linked to the pandemic given the supply of genuine knowledge, saying the validity and robustness of the fashions used and methodology of information assortment have been questionable.

India is prone to elevate the difficulty on the World Health Assembly and different multilateral boards, sources within the ministry mentioned.

“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 Union Health Ministry mentioned.

India had additionally knowledgeable WHO that given the supply of genuine knowledge printed by the Civil Registration System by the Registrar General of India, mathematical fashions shouldn’t be used for projecting extra mortality numbers for India.

“India firmly believes that such robust and accurate data generated through the 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 assertion added.