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27 December: what is celebrated today
The echoes of Christmas have barely passed and the world looks again into the mirror of its fragility. After lights and embraces comes a date inviting reflection and commitment: International Day of Epidemic Preparedness. Proclaimed by the UN in 2020, it reminds us that collective health is not a given but a constant effort. In December’s stillness, as the year fades, humanity reviews the lessons health crises have engraved on its memory: the need for cooperation, the importance of science and the profound value
International Day of Epidemic Preparedness
This observance, promoted by the Embassy of Vietnam to the UN, was born as a warning and a tribute. A warning about invisible threats that cross borders without a passport, and a tribute to Louis Pasteur, the father of modern microbiology and a symbol of preventive medicine. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world understood that no society is completely safe, and that the only possible response to fear is preparedness.
Every epidemic that has shaken humanity—from bubonic plague to AIDS, via cholera, Ebola or the Spanish flu—has revealed the same truth: vulnerability makes us equal. But it has also shown that knowledge and cooperation can turn tragedy into progress. Science, healthcare work and public education are the true shields against uncertainty.
The International Day of Epidemic Preparedness seeks precisely that: to keep awareness of prevention alive. It requires more than vaccines and hospitals; it calls for strengthening health systems, investing in research, guaranteeing equitable access to treatments and caring for the planet, because human health depends on ecological balance. Diseases arise not only in bodies, but also in the imbalances we create through the way we inhabit the world.
Each 27 December is thus a day of shared responsibility. Remembering that a virus understands neither borders nor social classes is to recognise our interdependence. Preparing for epidemics means preparing a fairer, more supportive society, more aware of its own limits. After all, prevention is a form of love: towards others, towards the future, towards life itself.