NEW DELHI: Over 330 million life-years have been lost globally due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, said the World Health Organization (WHO) Friday.
The world health body, which released its latest world health statistics report that highlighted the true extent of the pandemic, said that the an estimated 336.8 million life-years lost indicates that each excess death led to a loss of more than 22 years of life - equivalent to over five years of life lost per second in these two years.
While the WHO officially registered 5.4 million Covid-19 deaths in the two years, its estimates of excess mortality show that globally 14.9 million excess deaths could be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic by the end of 2021.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has led to 14.9 million excess deaths and cost 336.8 million years of life globally in 2020 and 2021,” the report said.
“With millions of excess deaths attributed to the pandemic globally thus far, Covid-19 stands out as one of the most devastating pandemics in history, and certainly in recent memory. This pandemic highlights the critical importance of early detection and swift response at the global level to contain the rapid spread of the virus,” it added.
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The pandemic has also put many health-related indicators further off-track. As a result of service disruptions, the increasing trend in immunisation coverage (including against measles, human papillomavirus, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) and the declining trend in the incidence of malaria and tuberculosis were both reversed, and fewer people were treated for neglected tropical diseases.
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed inequalities between countries and within them, including disparities in access to Covid-19 vaccines, with populations with lower educational levels and low- and middle-income countries less likely to have received a Covid-19 vaccine.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder that infectious diseases can emerge or re-emerge to cause harm – potentially to everyone. Infectious diseases that were previously under control may surge due to antimicrobial resistance, setting back progress,” the report added.
Up to 11 March 2023, there were over 759 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and nearly 6.9 million Covid-19 deaths reported globally.
Of the 6.9 million reported deaths attributed to Covid-19, 43% were reported in WHO’s Region of the Americas, making it the region hardest hit by the pandemic, the report said. The WHO European and South-East Asia regions accounted for 32% and 12% of global reported COVID-19 deaths, respectively.
At the regional level, the Southeast Asia Region had the highest number of excess deaths for the years 2020 and 2021 at 6.1 million, which accounts for 41% of global excess deaths.
The report said the pandemic disproportionately affected the age group of 45 years and above (14.2 million or 95% of the global excess deaths). While 0.7 million excess deaths were observed in the age group of 25-44 years (5% of the global excess deaths), fewer deaths than expected (about 37,000 fewer deaths) were estimated to have occurred among people under the age of 25 years.
An estimated 31% of the global excess deaths occurred in ages between 45 and 64 years. Similarly, 46% of global excess deaths occurred between 65 and 84 years. The oldest age group, 85 years and above, accounted for 18% of excess deaths globally.
Globally, excess deaths among women accounted for about 44% of the global excess deaths for 2020 and 2021 combined.
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted healthcare access inequality, especially among vulnerable populations and in developing nations. In addition, the pandemic exposed inequality in health emergency preparedness worldwide.
Much needs to be done, and urgently, by countries and the international community to make sure that more people around the globe have access to healthcare services and are protected from health emergencies so that they may enjoy healthier lives, it added.
