GENEVA (AN) — An independent expert panel faulted the World Health Organization and world leaders on Wednesday with a slow-moving response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 13-member panel appointed by WHO's director-general to examine why COVID-19 became a global health crisis concluded it was a "preventable disaster." It found the U.N. health agency was "underpowered," its alert system too slow, and its inspectors "hindered" by a lack of unrestricted rights to enter any nation and fully investigate outbreaks.