International Day of Epidemic Preparedness: 27 December

The United Nations and World Health Organization marked December 27 as the International day for Epidemic Preparedness. The Covid-19 pandemic brought to light the need for communities at local, national, and global levels to have systems in place to effectively deal with epidemics when they occur, but to also work towards preventing future epidemics.

Significance:

As per a WHO statement, the need of the hour is to invest in systems that can help detect, prevent and respond to outbreaks that have the ability to disrupt health systems, supply chains and livelihood of especially the poorest countries. The UN also aims at popularising the One Health approach that fosters the integration of plant health, human health and animal health along with other relevant sectors.