No increase has been reported in deaths among individuals aged 20 to 50 in the state due to post-Covid complications, Himachal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr (Col) Dhani Ram Shandil stated in the Assembly Friday.
He was responding to a query by Congress MLA Sudarshan Singh Babloo during Question Hour in the House. “It is often believed that the death rate increased after the Covid-19 pandemic due to post-infection complications and organ failures. If this were true, there would have been a noticeable rise in death rates among individuals aged 20 to 50 years, along with an increase in the number of deaths and their causes,” asked Babloo, who represents Sri Chintpurni constituency.
The minister replied, “There is no such rise. Statistics from 2023 and 2024 reveal that the number of recorded deaths in this age group actually declined, from 4,773 in 2023 to 3,967 in 2024. The major causes of these deaths, as recorded in official documents, include heart diseases, accidents, suicides, and other health-related issues.”
“The figures suggest that there has been no unusual increase in deaths due to post-Covid complications… There is also no study linking deaths due to the vaccinations,” Shandil underlined.
Shandil listed at least 22 different causes attributed to the deaths of individuals aged 20 to 50 years reported in government hospitals across Himachal Pradesh in 2023 and 2024. These causes included cancer, cerebral paralysis, heart disease & heart attacks, jaundice, thyroid disorders, infectious and paralytic diseases, liver disease, malaria, neoplasms, accidental burns, transport accidents, falls, and drowning, among others.
The detailed reply by the minister said heart disease and heart attacks remain the leading causes of death, with 734 fatalities in 2023 and 609 in 2024. Suicide cases also saw a decline, dropping from 100 in 2023 to 80 in 2024. Similarly, fatalities from transport accidents slightly decreased from 71 to 68.
The health department recorded 156 cancer-related deaths in 2023 and 110 in 2024. Liver disease fatalities also dropped from 49 in 2023 to 39 in 2024. However, deaths due to infectious and paralytic diseases saw a slight increase from 19 in 2023 to 23 in 2024.
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