Day for epidemic preparedness must be more than symbolic

With the novel coronavirus outbreak highlighting the need for systems that can prevent, detect and respond to public health crises, the United Nations has designated Dec 27 as the International Day for Epidemic Preparedness, with Sunday marking its debut.

That neither the 1968 flu pandemic nor the HIV/ AIDS pandemic starting in the 1980s prompted the UN to establish such a day, shows not only the magnitude of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but also how urgent the world body thinks it is for the international community to draw lessons from it.

As of Sunday, the novel coronavirus had infected about 80.7 million people around the world, and killed 1.76 million of them. But in the face of urgent need, even the health systems in the developed countries have proved to be frail and unreliable. Not to mention the lack of international cooperation and multilateralism in the response to the pandemic, particularly during the early stage of the outbreak, when name calling, conspiracy theories and unilateralism were rife.

As Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged, all governments must invest heavily in preparedness capacity to protect, detect and mitigate health emergencies of all kinds, and all sectors of society and all members of the international community have their parts to play in building that capacity.

These efforts must be coordinated as a “one health” approach so as to be able to monitor the critical interface between humans and animals and address the existential threat of climate change.

A much more transmittable variant of the virus has appeared in at least 20 countries as of Sunday, which has forced some major economies into new lockdowns. This has occurred almost simultaneously with the launch of large-scale inoculation programs. After battling the common enemy for nearly one year, this should drive home the message that the world needs to do more. Especially to protect the most vulnerable.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pointed out the COVID-19 pandemic has created “a generational opportunity” to build back a more equal and sustainable world based on a new social contract and a new global deal that creates equal opportunities for all.

Observing the International Day for Epidemic Preparedness provides governments and societies with the opportunity to initiate a process to form that new social contract and new global deal.

That is to say, the International Day for Epidemic Preparedness should by no means be taken as merely symbolic, but function as a grave and pressing reminder of the hard lessons the world is now having to learn.

History has made it crystal clear that the pandemic will not be the last one, and “epidemics are a fact of life”. However, as the WHO chief said, with input in public health supported by an all-of-government, all-of-society and one health approach, people can still ensure that the future generations can inherit a safer, more resilient and more sustainable world.

But the time for action is now.