Each 27 December is celebrated as United Nations (UN) International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.

The Thammasat University Library collection includes several books about different aspects of epidemic preparedness.

As the UN website notes,

As exemplified by the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic major infectious diseases and epidemics have devastating impacts on human lives, wreaking havoc on long-term social and economic development. Global health crises threaten to overwhelm already overstretched health systems, disrupt global supply chains and cause disproportionate devastation of the livelihoods of people, including women and children, and the economies of the poorest and most vulnerable countries.

There is an urgent need to have resilient and robust health systems, reaching those who are vulnerable or in vulnerable situations.

In the event of the absence of international attention, future epidemics could surpass previous outbreaks in terms of intensity and gravity. There is great need of raising awareness, the exchange of information, scientific knowledge and best practices, quality education, and advocacy programmes on epidemics at the local, national, regional and global levels as effective measures to prevent and respond to epidemics.

It is important to strengthen epidemic prevention by applying lessons learned on epidemic management and how to prevent the stoppage of basic services, and to raise the level of preparedness in order to have the earliest and most adequate response to any epidemic that may arise, and recognizing also the value of an integrated One Health approach that fosters integration of human health, animal health and plant health, as well as environmental and other relevant sectors.

International cooperation and multilateralism play an important role in the response to epidemics. We need to stress the significance of partnership and solidarity among every individual, community and State, and regional and international organizations, in all stages of epidemic management, as well as the importance of considering a gender perspective in this regard.

The United Nations system, in particular the World Health Organization, plays a pivotal role in coordinating responses to epidemics, in accordance with its mandate, and in supporting national, regional and international efforts to prevent, mitigate and address the impacts of infectious diseases and epidemics in accordance with the goal of advancing the 2030 Agenda.

We need to recognize the primary role and responsibility of Governments and the indispensable contribution of relevant stakeholders in tackling global health challenges, especially women, who make up the majority of the world’s health workers.

UN member states commit to ensure inclusive, equal and non-discriminatory participation, with special attention to those, who are vulnerable or in vulnerable situations with the highest chance of epidemic infection.

The UN General Assembly invites all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system and other global, regional and subregional organizations, the private sector and civil society, including non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, individuals and other relevant stakeholders to observe the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness annually in an appropriate manner and in accordance with national contexts and priorities, through education and awareness-raising activities, in order to highlight the importance of the prevention of, preparedness for and partnership against epidemics…

UN Response to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is more than a health crisis; it is an economic crisis, a humanitarian crisis, a security crisis, and a human rights crisis. This crisis has highlighted severe fragilities and inequalities within and among nations. Coming out of this crisis will require a whole-of-society, whole-of-government and whole-of-the-world approach driven by compassion and solidarity.

The UN Secretary-General has launched the UN Comprehensive Response to COVID-19 to save lives, protect societies, recover better. It provides an update to the first edition of the report released on 25 June.

The Response sets out what we can and must do to:

• Deliver a global response that leaves no-one behind
• Reduce our vulnerability to future pandemics
• Build resilience to future shocks – above all climate change
• Overcome the severe and systemic inequalities exposed by the pandemic.
• The Response promotes three pillars of operation:
• Delivery of a large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive health response
• Adoption of policies that address the devastating socioeconomic, humanitarian and human rights aspects of the crisis
• A recovery process that builds back better

As part of the response, the UN Secretary-General is issuing policy briefs to provide ideas to governments on how to address the consequences of this crisis.

The UN report begins:

Over the course of 2020, the coronavirus disease, or COVID-19, has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, infected millions of people, upended the global economy and cast a dark shadow across our future. No country has been spared. No population group remains unscathed. Nobody is immune to its impacts. From the outset of the pandemic, the United Nations system mobilized early and comprehensively. It led on the global health response, provided life-saving humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable, established instruments for rapid responses to the socio-economic impact and laid out a broad policy agenda for action on all fronts. It also provided logistics, common services and operational support to governments and other partners around the world on the front lines of the pandemic, as they mounted national responses to this new virus and unprecedented global challenge.

Now, six months since the pandemic was declared, we issue this updated, comprehensive overview of the UN system response. The overview recounts our key guidance, lessons and support in the first six months of the pandemic– and points the way to the crucial steps that must follow to save lives, protect societies and recover better, leaving no one behind and addressing the very fragilities and gaps that made us so vulnerable in the first place. It also points the way toward addressing future shocks – above all from climate change – and toward overcoming the severe and systemic inequalities that have been so tragically exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic.

It became clear early on that the pandemic was more than a health crisis; it is a socio-economic crisis, a humanitarian crisis, a security crisis, and a human rights crisis. It has affected us as individuals, as families, communities and societies. It has had an impact on every generation, including on those not yet born. The crisis has highlighted fragilities within and among nations, as well as in our systems for mounting a coordinated global response to shared threats. Our response will therefore also need to engender a deep reflection on the very structures of societies, both nationally and internationally, and the ways in which countries cooperate for the common good. Coming out of this crisis will require a whole-of-society, whole-of-government and whole-of-the-world approach driven by compassion and solidarity…

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)