The World Health Organization (WHO) has appointed an independent panel and said it will present a report next year to review the health agency and the global response to the coronavirus outbreak. 

In early July, (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ph.D., announced the launch of an independent panel to evaluate the world's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as requested by a resolution passed by the World Health Assembly (WHA) at its May meeting.

At the time, he said the panel would be led by Helen Clark, New Zealand's former prime minister, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia's former president.

At a media briefing on Thursday, Clark and Sirleaf announced the names of the 11 panelists. Sirleaf said, "We look forward to intense work together at a key moment in history. In order to honor the more than 25.6 million people who have fallen ill and more than 850,000 who have died due to COVID-19, we have no time to waste."

Members are from medical, science, global health, and economic backgrounds, including some from nongovernmental organizations, such as Joanna Liu, MD, a Canadian doctor who formerly led Doctors Without Borders.

A range of countries are represented and include both China and the United States. The independent panel said members will serve in their individual capacities and will not represent their governments or specific organizational interests.

The group meets for the first time on Sep 17 and will meet every 6 weeks until April. Their leaders will brief the WHO's executive board in October, report to the resumed WHA in November, and expects to submit a full report to next year's WHA in May.

Source: Agencies