Report says Pak corona death toll was eight times high
Former special assistant to then prime minister on health Dr Faisal Sultan Friday said the World Health Organization’s (WHO) data on coronavirus deaths in Pakistan is not reliable.
In a statement, Dr Faisal Sultan said: “I have to look at the WHO report in detail. We checked the cemetery record to determine the number of deaths from coronavirus. We also checked this record through our own system.”
The former health official’s statement came after the world health body estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic killed around 15 million people worldwide in 2020 and 2021 — nearly triple the number of deaths officially attributed to the disease.
“The full death toll associated directly or indirectly with the COVID-19 pandemic between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 was approximately 14.9 million (range 13.3 million to 16.6 million),” the UN health agency said.
The figures are extremely sensitive due to how they reflect on the handling of the crisis by authorities around the world, with some countries, notably India, already contesting the far higher numbers.
