Dikhyaa Mohanty 
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has called for global solidarity to stop infectious diseases. In his video message for the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, Guterres stated that building global solidarity would “give every country a fighting chance to stop infectious diseases in their tracks.”
According to the official reports, Antonio Guterres further added that the Coronavirus 19 continues to demonstrate how quickly “an infectious disease can sweep across the world,” pushing health systems to the brink and upending daily life for all of humanity. It also revealed our failure to learn the lessons of recent health emergencies like SARS, avian influenza, Zika, Ebola and others.
The first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, marked on December 27, 2020, was called for by the UN General Assembly to advocate the importance of the prevention of, preparedness for and partnership against epidemics.
He further added that this reminded us that the world remains woefully unprepared to stop localised outbreaks from spilling across borders and spiraling into a global pandemic. Noting that infectious diseases remain “a clear and present danger to every country. This means scaling-up investments in better monitoring, early detection and rapid response plans in every country — especially the most vulnerable. It means strengthening primary healthcare at the local level to prevent collapse… ensuring equitable access to lifesaving interventions, like vaccines for all people and … achieving universal health coverage.”
