The Covid pandemic had caused between 13 and 17 million deaths by the end of 2021, according to the WHO

The Covid-19 pandemic was responsible for the death of 13 to 17 million people at the end of 2021, far more than the official death toll recorded worldwide, according to a new WHO estimate, which is already causing controversy. controversy.

These highly anticipated figures give a more realistic idea of ​​the devastating effects of the worst pandemic in a century which, according to this data, has already killed 1 in 500 humans and continues to claim thousands of lives every week.

“The total toll associated directly or indirectly with the pandemic of Covid-19 between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 is approximately 14.9 million deaths (a range of 13.3 to 16.6 million),” the organization revealed on Thursday.

Since the start of the pandemic, official figures from member countries compiled by the WHO come to a total of 5.4 million deaths over the same period, but the WHO has long warned that this statistic underestimates the reality.

The WHO said most of the excess deaths (84%) were concentrated in Southeast Asia, which in the WHO regional breakdown includes India, Europe (which includes Russia and other countries of the former USSR) and in the Americas.

Some 10 countries alone accounted for 68% of the total excess mortality, these are in descending order Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Russia, South Africa south, Turkey and the United States.

– Accounts –

“These sobering data underscore not only the impact of the pandemic, but also the need for all countries to invest in more resilient health systems capable of sustaining essential health services during crises, including including stronger health information systems,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In fact, the figures published Thursday by the WHO suffer from holes in the statistics, the collection of data being sometimes fragmented or even completely non-existent for certain countries. The ranges given sometimes go from simple to double.

The Organization thus estimates that 6 out of 10 deaths are not recorded worldwide.

Excess mortality is calculated by taking the difference between the actual number of deaths and the number of deaths estimated in the absence of a pandemic, based on existing statistics.

Excess mortality includes both deaths directly caused by the disease and those indirectly caused.

The indirect causes can be due in particular to overloaded health structures and forced, for example, to delay surgical procedures or chemotherapy sessions for cancer patients.

Sometimes, confinements have also avoided deaths, such as traffic accidents.

– To understand –

“Measuring excess mortality is an essential component for understanding the impact of the pandemic”, explained Samira Asma, in charge of the file at the WHO.

More reliable information allows decision makers to better prepare the ground to limit the impact of future crises.

“These new estimates are based on the best available data produced using a robust methodology and a completely transparent approach,” she said.

The subject is extremely sensitive because of the political repercussions, these figures being indicators of the quality of the management of the crisis by the authorities.

India particularly criticized the WHO estimates on Thursday, which turn out to be ten times higher than the country’s official assessment, judging the calculation method erroneous. India has reported 481,000 Covid-19 deaths for 2020-21, a figure estimated at some 4.75 million deaths by the WHO. The international organization attributes almost a third of pandemic-related deaths worldwide to India.

“Due to its large area, diversity and population of 1.3 billion, which has witnessed a pandemic of varying severity… India has always opposed using a unique approach and model, which can be applied to smaller countries but not India,” read a statement from the Indian Ministry of Health and Family.

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