WHO launches independent panel to evaluate world’s COVID-19 response

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has derailed economics, killed more than 569,000 people, and left entire nations on lockdown, and last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the formation of an independent panel to investigate the world’s handling of the disease.

The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR) will be led by Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Johnson Sirleaf, the former president of Liberia and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. They will choose additional panel members and members of an independent secretariat to support their investigations.

“This is a time for self-reflection, to look at the world we live in and to find ways to strengthen our collaboration as we work together to save lives and bring this pandemic under control,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “The magnitude of this pandemic, which has touched virtually everyone in the world, clearly deserves a commensurate evaluation.”

Member states voted for the independent evaluation in May, and its leadership was chosen through consultation between WHO member states and global experts. Discussion of the panel’s progress will be held in September, with an interim report following in November. Still, its work is expected to be complete by next May, in time for presentation at the World Health Assembly.