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Facing the Uncomfortable Truth
The Unacknowledged Tragedy of 5 Million Excess COVID Deaths
Speakers
Government of India figures show about 500,000 deaths due to Covid-19. Why is the global consensus on excess deaths in India 6-10 times this number? How did the WHO, The Economist, and publications in Science, Lancet, EPW and elsewhere arrive at their estimates? Why does it matter? This session will answer these questions and put pandemic mortality in context.
In this session Mihir Mahajan will be in conversation with Suman Joshi. Mihir Mahajan and Shekhar Sathe used the LIC’s published claims data to arrive at their estimate from a novel perspective which will be explained.
Speakers
Mihir Mahajan
Mihir Mahajan is an adjunct fellow at the Takshashila Institution, Bangalore. Last month, he and Shekhar Sathe co-authored a paper in the Economic and Political Weekly on Covid-19 mortality estimates for India based on life insurance data. Previously, Mihir and Takshashila colleagues published an article in Indian Public Policy Review on a vaccine deployment strategy for India. Mihir has published articles on technology policy in several publications and been on multiple podcasts.
Suman Joshi
Suman Joshi is a programme manager for the Advanced Public Policy course at the Takshashila Institution, Bangalore. She has also been on several episodes of Takshashila’s “All Things Policy” podcast to discuss education, public health, gender issues, etc. She has published articles in The Hindu and Deccan Herald. In a prior life, Suman was a human resources executive.
