United Nations (UN)’s International Day of Epidemic Preparedness is annually observed across the globe on December 27 to raise awareness of the importance of prevention of, preparedness for, and collaboration against epidemics.
- 27th December 2022 marks the observance of the 3rd International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.
Background:
i. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/75/27 on 7th December 2020 and declared December 27 of every year as International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.
ii. The 1st International Day of Epidemic Preparedness was observed on 27th December 2020.
Epidemics:
i. Epidemics are some of the leading threats to global health security. It also makes a massive impact on livelihoods and entire societies.
ii. It is an unexpected increase of a specific illness within a community or region.
Epidemic and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:
i. Given the global growth in severe poverty, inequality, and injustice, the COVID-19 pandemic offers a serious obstacle to the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
ii. The 3rd inter-sessional meeting on human rights and the 2030 Agenda focused on the implementation of SDG 10 on reduced inequalities and SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, as countries aim to build back better from the pandemic.
UN Response to COVID-19:
The World Health Organization (WHO) is crucial in helping Member States respond to and recover from public health emergencies.
- The global disease outbreak of COVID-19 was 1st reported to WHO on 31 December 2019.
i. Apart from being a health emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic is also an economic, humanitarian, security, and human rights emergency.
ii. It has highlighted serious inequities and fragilities inside and between nations.
iii. The UN Secretary-General has launched the 2021 update of the UN Comprehensive Response to COVID-19 to save lives, protect societies, and recover better.
COVID-19 situation updates (11–17 December 2022):
i. The coronavirus disease COVID-19 is spreading on a regional and international scale.
ii. The case-fatality ratio (CFR) for the global cumulative incidence as of December 17, 2022, was 1.03%, with 64,88,89,162 reported cases and 66,60,713 related deaths.
About the World Health Organization (WHO):
Director General- Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland
Establishment- 1948
