The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that it was setting up an independent panel to review its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the response by governments. 

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have agreed to head the panel and chose its members, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual meeting with representatives of WHO's 194 member states, which was webcast.

"This is a time for self-reflection," Tedros said, noting that WHO's member states in May called unanimously for an evaluation of the global response to the pandemic.

"This is not a standard report that ticks a box and is then put on a shelf to gather dust. This is something we take seriously," Tedros said, adding that the panel would provide an interim report to an annual meeting of health ministers being reconvened in November.

And the panel will present a substantive report at the World Health Assembly next May.