Study claims life expectancy declined by 2.6 years in India during COVID-19. Government issues response

The Indian government released a statement inresponseto a recent study claiming that life expectancy in the countrysignificantly declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare dismissed the findings published in the academic journal Science Advance by dubbing them as 'untenable' and 'unacceptable'.

"Excess mortality reported in the 'Science Advances' paper in 2020 over the previous year is a gross and misleading overestimate," the ministry said.

The study titled Large and unequal life expectancy declines during the COVID-19 pandemic in India in 2020stated that India lost 2.6 years in life expectancy between 2019 and 2020. It added that the decline wasmore pronounced among females (3.1 years) compared to males (2.1 years).

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The researchers looked at the social groupsand found that upper-casteHindu groups experienced a life expectancy decline of 1.3 years, whereas Muslims and Scheduled Tribes experienced a 5.4-year and 4.1-year drop in their life expectancies.

Overall, the study stated thatmortality across India was 17 per centhigher in 2020 compared to 2019, implying 1.19 million excess deaths in India. The paper highlighted that the decline inlife expectancy was higher among young individuals and those aged 50-60.

“Even though absolute increases in mortality were highest in the oldest ages, mortality increases in the younger ages contributed substantially to life expectancy losses because life expectancy is more sensitive to early-life mortality," the study authors noted.

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'Erroneous methodology'

The Indian government responded by sayingthat the study employed an erroneous methodology which made its claims 'inconsistent' and 'unexplainable'.

"The all-cause excess mortality in 2020 compared with the previous year in India is markedly less than the 11.9 lakh deaths reported in the 'Science Advances' paper Discrepancies between the study's findings and established #COVID19 mortality patterns further undermine its credibility," said Indian health ministry.

"Study fails to acknowledge India's robust Civil Registration System (CRS), which recorded a substantial increase in death registrations (over 99 per cent) in 2020, not solely attributable to the pandemic."

Notably, the study used data from theNational Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5) and analysed households from 14 states and Union Territories (UTs). The government claimed that the study authors used a non-representative subset of households from NFHS-5.

The ministry argued that the NFHS sample is representative only when considered in its entirety, and the analysis of just 23 per centof households from 14 states cannot accurately reflect national mortality trends.

(With inputs from agencies)