International Day of Epidemic Preparedness: Turning Lessons Into Lasting Systems

Observed each year on December 27, the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness is a reminder that pathogens do not keep calendars or borders, and that the only durable defense is a living system of prevention, early detection, and rapid response. Pandemic fatigue is real, but so are the continuing signals: resurgent measles, expanding dengue, evolving influenza, and stubborn antimicrobial resistance. Preparedness cannot be a project we dust off during crises; it must be a core capability we fund, practice, measure, and improve every year.

Prevent
Infection prevention personnel know that the most cost-effective outbreak is the one that never happens. Prevention begins with strong primary health care and a One Health approach that tracks risks at the human-animal-environment interface. It includes routine immunization, ventilation and environmental hygiene in schools and health facilities, safer supply chains for water and sanitation, and reliable access to personal protective equipment. Hospitals and long-term care centers should integrate infection prevention and control into their everyday operations, including hand hygiene, device care bundles, cleaning and disinfection, and antimicrobial stewardship. Investments in community trust are equally preventive: When people believe their health system, they seek care earlier and accept vaccines faster.

Detect
Minutes matter when an unusual cluster appears. Detection requires integrated surveillance that can “see” across care settings and geographies, including electronic case reporting, laboratory networks with surge capacity, and genomic sequencing that can identify variants before they spread. Complementary tools, such as wastewater surveillance, syndromic monitoring in emergency departments, and rapid point-of-care diagnostics, help shorten the time from the first case to the first signal of an outbreak. Just as important are interoperable data standards and analytics that deliver timely, actionable insights to frontline teams while safeguarding privacy. Technology should assist—not overwhelm—already stretched public health and clinical staff.

Respond
A swift response rests on practiced playbooks and prepared people. Every jurisdiction and health system should maintain a standing incident command structure; preposition contracts for staffing, oxygen, and critical supplies; and conduct regular drills that include community partners, from schools and shelters to faith and civic organizations. Clear risk communication—being honest about uncertainty, consistent across channels, and available in multiple languages—builds confidence and counters misinformation. Equity must be explicit: Surge testing sites, mobile vaccination, and treatment access should reach high-risk settings first, not last.

Finance and workforce
Preparedness rises and falls with funding that is predictable, flexible, and accountable. Dedicated domestic budgets and contingency funds prevent the familiar cycle of panic and neglect. Similarly, investment in people includes field epidemiologists, laboratorians, infection preventionists, environmental services teams, community health workers, and data scientists. Cross-training and protected time for exercises convert policy into muscle memory.

What Leaders Can Do Now

• Set measurable targets (eg, time to detection, time to isolation, vaccination coverage, stockpile readiness) and publish progress.
• Modernize data pipelines to enable laboratories and clinics to report once and reuse the data multiple times.
• Upgrade facility infrastructure, including airflow, isolation capacity, and environmental hygiene, as well as digital tools.
• Fund routine after-action reviews and close the loop on lessons learned.
• Engage communities early and codesign plans with the people most affected.

Epidemics exploit our delays and divisions. On December 27—and every day before and after—preparedness asks us to do the opposite: Act early, act together, and act on evidence. The return on investment is measured not only in lives saved during the next emergency but also in healthier, more resilient systems all year long.