India Rejects Study Claiming Covid-19 Cut Life Expectancy by 2.6 Years

The Union health ministry has dismissed a recent study published in Science Advances that claims India’s life expectancy dropped by 2.6 years during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The ministry labeled the study’s estimates as “untenable and unacceptable.”

The study suggested socially disadvantaged groups, including Muslims and Scheduled Tribes, experienced significant losses, with females seeing a larger decline (3.1 years) compared to males (2.1 years). However, the ministry criticized the study’s methodology, arguing that it used a non-representative subset of households from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), conducted between January and April 2021.

The ministry emphasized that the NFHS sample is only representative when considered in its entirety, and analyzing just 23% of households from 14 states cannot accurately reflect national mortality trends. They also noted potential selection and reporting biases, as the data was collected during the pandemic’s peak.

The government highlighted that India’s Civil Registration System (CRS) is robust, capturing over 99% of deaths, and reported a consistent trend of increased death registrations in 2020, not solely due to the pandemic. Additionally, the Sample Registration System (SRS) indicated little to no excess mortality in 2020 compared to 2019. The ministry disputed the study’s findings on age and sex-related mortality increases, stating official data showed higher Covid-19 mortality among males and older age groups.