India third highest in gun-related deaths, firearm mortality rate "beats" China, Pakistan, Bangladesh: US study

A just released study has found that India has the distinction of having the third highest number of gun-related deaths out of 195 countries surveyed. Published by the American Medical Association, the study, released on August 28, shows that a total of 26,500 firearm-related deaths took place in India in 2016. Brazil tops the list with 43,200 deaths, followed by United States 37,200.
No doubt, India being the second most populated country in the world, it's firearm-related mortality rate per 100,000 is just 2.1 as against the Brazil's 18.4 per 100,000, and the United States' 10.6 per 100,000. However, interestingly, the firearm-related mortality rate per 100,000 in China, which is the most populous country in the world, is just 0.2, with absolute number of firearm deaths estimated at 2,910 in 2016.

Titled "Global Mortality From Firearms, 1990-2016", authored by Dr Mohsen Naghavi of the Global Health Department, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation University of Washington, Seattle, the study also finds that the firearms morality rate is the highest in India as compared to all its neighbours. Thus, it is 1.1 per 100,000 in Bangladesh, 1.0 in Bhutan, 1.9 in Sri Lanka, 0.2 in China, 1.3 in Nepal, 1.1 in Myanmar, 1.5 in Pakistan, and 1.9 in Sri Lanka.
Interestingly, India and Pakistan are the only two countries among India's neighbours with witnessed an increase in the absolute number of firearm related deaths. In India, the absolute number of firearm deaths were 22,500 in 1990, which went up to 26,500 in 2016. As for Pakistan, it's absolute firearm deaths increased from 1,430 to 2,780.
Basing itself on what it calls "a combination of deidentified aggregated data from vital registration, verbal autopsy, census and survey data, and police records in models for 195 countries and territories", the study estimates that "251,000 people died globally from firearm injuries in 2016, compared with 209,000 deaths in 1990".
It adds, however, that "there was an annualized decrease of 0.9% in the global rate of age-standardized firearm deaths from 1990 to 2016."
The study says, "Although public attention is frequently focused on firearm homicide, firearm suicides represent the greater fraction of firearm mortality in some locations", but insists, "Access to firearms is a necessary precondition for firearm injury to occur."

Claiming to be the the first study of its kind, the author says, "The strength of the relationship between access to firearms and variation in levels of firearm violence has not been previously evaluated at the level used in this study."
The study takes into account, broadly, three types of data while analysing firearms morality -- physical violence by firearm, self-harm by firearm, and unintentional firearm injuries. An analysis by Laura Santhanam in PBS News Hour of its data shows that "half of all gun-related deaths in 2016 occurred in six nations -- Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Guatemala. Together, these countries hold less than 10 percent of the world’s population."
The expert analysis further says that "overall, 64 percent of deaths were determined to be homicides, while an additional 27 percent were suicides and 9 percent were accidental shootings."

Comments

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Search This Blog