INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EPIDEMIC PREPAREDNESS: BECAUSE “IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE” IS STILL A LIE

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EPIDEMIC PREPAREDNESS

If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that saying “God forbid” is not a health plan. One minute, life was normal, people were outside, hugging freely, complaining about traffic and the next minute, everyone was suddenly an expert on handwashing, suspicious of coughs, and attending meetings on Zoom.

That’s why December 27, International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, exists, not to reopen old wounds, but to remind us that epidemics don’t announce themselves. They don’t warn you before showing up, they just arrive and start exposing cracks.

Epidemics thrive where preparation is poor, all they need is one weak system, one careless decision, one ignored warning. From COVID-19 to Ebola, from cholera outbreaks to Lassa fever, the pattern is always the same. By the time people take it seriously, damage has already been done.

In Nigeria, this reality is not new. Every year, one disease or another resurfaces and we act surprised as if it’s the first time. The problem is rarely the disease itself; it’s how unprepared we are when it arrives.

Epidemic preparedness is not about living in fear or expecting the worst every day, it’s about sense, it’s about early detection, functional health systems, clear communication and people trusting the right information. It’s about not waiting until hospitals are overwhelmed before taking action, it’s choosing planning over panic.

And while it’s easy to point fingers at the government, preparedness is not a one-sided affair. It shows in our everyday choices, in how seriously we take hygiene, how quickly we seek proper medical care and how responsibly we share health information. An epidemic doesn’t need a crowd; it just needs one careless chain to start spreading.

Health emergencies also remind us of an uncomfortable truth: health is not purely personal, what one person ignores can affect an entire community. An outbreak does not check your social status before spreading, once it starts, everyone is involved, whether they signed up for it or not.

The International Day of Epidemic Preparedness is not about fear-mongering, it’s about refusing to repeat history. It’s a reminder that reacting late is not a strategy and hoping for the best without planning for the worst is dangerous.

The real question is not whether another outbreak will happen, history has already answered that. The real question is whether, this time, we’ll be ready before it forces us to be.