Nearly 100 people have died from heat-related conditions in the world’s most populous country. But India’s healthcare system still struggles to assess and address the consequences of the sweltering heatwave, says Bloomberg Opinion’s David Fickling.
in two of the country’s most populous states in recent days, the Associated Press reported this week - but officials, including medics, have disputed the claims.
Going by some numbers, the effects of high temperatures on India’s population seem remarkably slight. Last year’s brutal heatwave season, which saw temperatures in Delhi as high as 49.2 degree Celsius, is widely quoted as resulting in only 90 deaths. The COVID-19 pandemic gives an insight into why better numbers are lacking. Most deaths have multiple causes. When one is a novel and politicised event such as an epidemic or heatwave, people may tend to either overplay or downplay this factor.
That can lead to distorted figures. China changed its standard for attributing coronavirus infection and pressured doctors to name other issues during its outbreak last year, in each case serving to suppress reported mortality.
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