Covid-19: India’s Leading Cause of Death

• 05 May 2021

Why in News

According to the most recent estimates by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the Covid-19 pandemic has emerged the biggest cause of death in India.

• IHME is an independent global health research centre at the University of Washington, US.

Key Points

• Death due to Covid-19 Pandemic:
  
  • India has recorded more than 19 million cases of coronavirus-second only to the US and has confirmed more than 2,15,000 deaths.
  • The human toll of the pandemic is more than double the number of humans killed in over 320 natural disasters during the recent two decades (2000-2019).
• Other Top Causes of Deaths in India:
  
  • Ischemic heart disease (second),
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (third),
  • Strokes (fourth),
  • Diarrhoeal diseases (fifth),
  • Neonatal disorders (sixth),
  • Lower respiratory infections (seventh),
  • Tuberculosis (eighth),
  • Diabetes mellitus (ninth) and
  • Chronic liver diseases, including cirrhosis (tenth).
• Reasons for Covid-19 being the Leading Cause of Death:
  
  • The ‘double mutant’ B.1.617 Indian variant of SARS-CoV-2 has heightened risk.
  • Lives have been lost due to the lack of preparedness of governments, India’s poor health infrastructure, lack of medical oxygen and even medicines.
  • The Centre and state governments have been accused and held responsible by the Supreme Court and High Court for undermining the scale of crisis and failure to manage it.
  • Experts have also been unhappy with India’s Covid-19 vaccine procurement and pricing policy. States have to await their quota of vaccines.

Way Forward

• The IHME advises governments to impose strict physical distancing norms for six weeks at least once deaths cross 8 per million.
• The Supreme Court advised both Centre as well as states to resort to lockdowns if needed but to also ensure livelihoods weren’t impacted.

Source: DTE