KUCHING, May 6 : South-East Asia (SEA) is among the top contributors of COVID-19 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO), new estimates 84 percent of COVID-19 deaths are concentrated in SEA, Europe and the United States.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said between January 1, 2020 and December 31 2021, the excess mortality, which includes death tolls related directly or indirectly with COVID-19, was about 14.9 million.
“These sobering data not only point to the impact of the pandemic but also to the need for all countries to invest in more resilient health systems.
“That can sustain essential health services during crises, including stronger health information systems,” he said.
Ghebreyesus further disclosed that more than half of the excess deaths came from low to middle-income countries.
For the past two years, high-income and low-income countries each account for 15 percent and four percent respectively of the 14.9 million.
Additionally, the global death toll was much higher for men as it accounts for half of the tolls compared to women accounting for 43 percent.
Ghebreyesus, advised in a press conference on Wednesday (May 4) that the best way to protect everyone is still through vaccination shots.
“Vaccinating at least 70 percent of the population of every country including 100 percent of high risk groups remains the best way to save lives, protect health systems and minimize cases of long-COVID.
“Availability of vaccines has improved significantly but a combination of the lack of political commitment, operational capacity problems, financial constraints and hesitancy due to misinformation and disinformation is limiting demand for vaccines,” said Ghebreyesus.
Meanwhile, the production of these estimates is a result of a global collaboration by the WHO and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).
Statistics Division of UN DESA Director Schweinfest, said the organisation consist many of the world’s leading experts, who developed an innovative methodology to generate comparable mortality estimates even where data are incomplete or unavailable.
“Data deficiencies make it difficult to assess the true scope of a crisis, with serious consequences for people’s lives.
“The pandemic has been a stark reminder of the need for better coordination of data systems within countries and for increased international support for building better systems, including for the registration of deaths and other vital events.” – TVS
