India rubbishes Lancet's claim of lack of accuracy, transparency in data

After Lancet, a leading medical journal, claimed that the Indian government's data on healthcare is inaccurate and opaque, the latter's officials said that the country has a robust system which documents births and deaths under a legislation.

"It (data under Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969) provides a unified process of continuous, permanent, compulsory, independent and universal recording of births and deaths,” TOI quoted government officials as saying.

Further, the officials said that over 90 per cent of births and deaths are registered online on the state or national portals.


Lancet in its editorial titled "India's elections: Why data and transparency matter" said that accurate and current data are crucial for health policy, planning, and management. However, the gathering and dissemination of this data in India have faced significant challenges and obstacles in recent years, it said.

The editorial cast doubts on the Narendra Modi government's claim that only 4.8 lakh individuals died due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It cited estimates from the World Health Organisation and other sources which pegged the number higher, including excess deaths mostly attributable to Covid-19 — a contention the government has consistently refuted.

The editorial also alleged a decline in government expenditure on healthcare.

The official, TOI reported, said that the government's allocation for healthcare has risen over the years. According to the latest National Health Accounts Estimates, it increased from Rs 1,39,949 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 4,34,163 crore (provisional data) in 2021-22. Additionally, she noted that the proportion of out-of-pocket expenses as part of the total healthcare expenditure decreased from 62.6% in 2014-15 to 39.4% in 2021-22.

The Lancet took aim at the government’s lack of accurate and timely data, highlighting unexplained delays in the census and surveys on births and deaths.

The editorial spoke of investigations conducted by India's Comptroller and Auditor General and a parliamentary panel in 2023, both of which uncovered significant irregularities in the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

This included thousands of ghost beneficiaries, fraud, false insurance claims, identity theft, and improper billing practices.

(With agency inputs)