The number of deaths attributed directly or indirectly to the COVID-19 pandemic covid-19 were underestimated, confirmed the World Health Organization (WHO). This May 5, the multilateral entity estimated that the total number of deaths actually rises to 14.9 million, compared to the 6.2 million officially reported.
WHO experts estimate that 14.9 million deaths may be associated with the pandemic, which represents the midpoint between a minimum of 13.3 million and a maximum of 16.6 million deaths recorded on January 1, 2020. as of December 31, 2021.
That total includes the 6.2 million Covid deaths officially reported to the WHO by its 194 member countries.
The rest corresponds to deaths caused by covid but that were not notified as such, as well as those caused by other diseases that might not be treated due to the overload suffered by the health systems in the acute stage of the disease. pandemic.
This calculation has been known during the pandemic as “excess mortality” and its explanation is relatively simple. National States and international organizations normally calculate the number of deaths expected each year. Thus, the projections are compared with what happens in reality.
As a result of these accounts, the WHO determined that there were 14.9 million more deaths than would be expected in the last two years. This, then, is attributed to the pandemic.
This calculation was also influenced by deaths that from a certain point of view were “avoided” because confinements reduced the risk of traffic and occupational accidents, experts explained at a press conference.
“We focused on excess deaths because we know that in many countries the data from the tests was insufficient. We also know that not all countries have a certification system (of deaths) that meets standard practices”, said WHO statistics expert William Msemburi.
That is why, despite the fact that the mathematical models used by the organization are reliable, calculating how many deaths were due to unreported covid and how many were due to other untreated chronic ailments is a task that requires the collection of additional data, he explained.
Dozens of lower-middle-income countries did not generally report causes of death, it said.
68% of excess mortality was concentrated in only ten countries in the world, generally countries with large populations and heavily affected by the covidaccording to data released today.
The largest actual number of Covid-related deaths was recorded in India (4.7 million), followed by Russia and Indonesia (over a million each) and USA (932.000).
The continuation figure Brazil (681.267), Mexico (626.217), Peru (289.668), Turkey (264.041), Egypt (251.102) y South Africa (238,671). Colombia, for its part, registered 164,745 deaths in those two years.
The figures also indicate that mortality was higher among men than among women, with the former accounting for 57% of deaths, compared to 43% of the latter.
“These data not only point to the impact of the pandemic, but also to the need for all countries to invest in stronger health systems that are capable of maintaining health services in times of crisis, and that have strong health information systems,” WHO Director-General said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Measuring excess mortality (with respect to normal times) is essential to understand the impact of the pandemic,” said WHO Deputy Director General for Emergencies Socé Fall.
“You have to understand the situation of the countries that did not have the capacity to report all the deaths, not even those directly caused because the victim had not undergone a test. In other countries there was a break in care for the chronically ill because the system and staff were totally dedicated to the pandemic,” he explained.
