International Day of Epidemic Preparedness
A/RES/75/27
A/RES/75/27
This authority record treats the observance as a fixed annual date. The same month and day can be reused unless a stronger source changes the rule. Public-holiday or government status is never inferred from the observance name alone.
Overview
The International Day of Epidemic Preparedness is observed on 27 December to promote prevention, preparedness, partnership and stronger capacity to respond to epidemics.
The observance was created during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the United Nations emphasized the need to learn from epidemic experience, maintain essential services and strengthen resilient health systems.
Why it matters
Preparedness includes planning before a crisis: surveillance, laboratory and public-health capacity, risk communication, trained workforces, resilient services and cooperation across borders and sectors.
An observance guide can explain these systems, but it should not diagnose symptoms, forecast a specific outbreak or replace current guidance from WHO and competent national health authorities.
History
The UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/75/27 on 7 December 2020 and proclaimed 27 December as the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.
The first observance was held on 27 December 2020; the United Nations Secretary-General explicitly identified it as the first observance.
The resolution was adopted in the context of COVID-19 and stressed lessons from epidemic management, resilient health systems, education, information-sharing, scientific knowledge and international cooperation.
Resolution A/RES/75/27 explicitly invites the World Health Organization to facilitate the observance in collaboration with other relevant organizations.
How the observance developed
This timeline is assembled only from verified provenance fields. Missing stages are omitted rather than inferred.
United Nations General Assembly
UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/75/27
First documented observance
The United Nations Secretary-General’s message dated 27 December 2020 explicitly identifies that date as the first observance of the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.
World Health Organization (WHO)
General Assembly resolution A/RES/75/27 explicitly invites WHO to facilitate the observance in collaboration with other relevant organizations.
What the evidence establishes
Verified institutional roles and milestones are shown first. Fields that the reviewed sources do not establish remain fail-closed and are available below without competing with the confirmed record.
4 fields not established in reviewed sources
Ways to observe
Review a household, workplace or community continuity plan using current guidance from competent health and emergency authorities.
Learn how public-health surveillance, laboratories, vaccination, infection prevention and risk communication fit into preparedness systems.
Practice identifying trustworthy outbreak information and distinguishing official guidance from rumours.
For current disease threats, use WHO and national public-health sources rather than evergreen observance content.
Useful facts
The International Day of Epidemic Preparedness is observed on 27 December.
The UN General Assembly established it in 2020 through A/RES/75/27.
The resolution was adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first observance was held on 27 December 2020.
WHO was invited to facilitate the observance in collaboration with other relevant organizations.
WHO is explicitly invited by the establishing UN resolution to facilitate the observance.
Topic and context
What this page does not assume
- Keep the source-defined country, community, organizer or institutional scope; do not silently broaden it.
- Do not treat the title alone as proof of government recognition or public-holiday status.
- Do not add a creator, founding story or origin claim unless the supporting evidence establishes it.
- Health Information Not Medical Advice.
Evidence & sources
Repeated links from the authority record, institutional provenance and editorial guide research are consolidated here. Badges show how each source is used; a contextual source is never treated as proof of establishment on its own.
un.org — authoritative source (opens in a new tab)
United Nations Digital Library — A/RES/75/27 (opens in a new tab)
United Nations Secretary-General — first observance of the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, 27 December 2020 (opens in a new tab)
United Nations — A/RES/75/27, paragraph 3 invites WHO to facilitate the observance (opens in a new tab)
Understand it, compare it, then explore further
Start with the most common factual questions, then use reviewed distinctions and related authority records to understand where this observance fits.
Frequently asked questions
When is International Day of Epidemic Preparedness?
27 December The stored recurrence guidance is: 27 December.
Does International Day of Epidemic Preparedness fall on the same date every year?
The authority record classifies it as fixed annual, so its month and day are reusable unless stronger evidence changes the rule.
Is International Day of Epidemic Preparedness an official public holiday?
The authority record verifies it within this scope: United Nations international observance. That recognition does not by itself make it a statutory public holiday; the site only makes public-holiday claims when the supporting authority record explicitly does so.
Who established or recognizes International Day of Epidemic Preparedness?
The reviewed provenance layer identifies United Nations General Assembly as the proclaiming or establishing body. Current facilitation or coordination is recorded as World Health Organization (WHO).
Is International Day of Epidemic Preparedness international or country-specific?
The record has international or global institutional scope: United Nations international observance. That does not mean every country treats the date as a public holiday or observes it in the same way.
How is this page verified?
The factual layer is source-backed and keeps its date rule, scope, provenance and editorial guardrails attached to the authority record. This record was checked on 2026-09-05.
When was the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness established?
The UN General Assembly adopted A/RES/75/27 on 7 December 2020 and proclaimed 27 December as the annual observance.
Why is the day on 27 December?
The resolution establishes 27 December, but the reviewed UN material does not provide a sufficiently strong historical explanation for why that exact date was selected.
Does this page provide current outbreak advice?
No. Current outbreak risks and health guidance should come from WHO and the relevant national or local public-health authority.
How this differs from closely related observances
These distinctions are separately reviewed and source-backed. They clarify scope; they do not change either authority record.
Is International Day of Epidemic Preparedness the same as World Health Day?
The International Day of Epidemic Preparedness focuses on prevention, preparedness, resilient systems and cooperation before and during epidemics. World Health Day is WHO’s broader annual global-health observance with changing priority themes.
Open World Health Day →Distinction sources
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