⁍ EU health ministers endorsed an EU document on the reform of the U.N. agency.

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⁍ The EU draft document urges the U.N. agency to make public more quickly how and whether its member states respect their obligations on sharing information on health crises.

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⁍ The United States has accused the WHO of being too close to China in the first phase of the pandemic.

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– The World Health Organization is in need of a major overhaul, and the European Union wants to make sure that happens as quickly as possible, Reuters reports. EU health ministers today endorsed an EU document calling for a slew of reforms to the WHO, which has been criticized for its slow response to the H1N1 pandemic. “The current pandemic challenges us very acutely … but it is very important that the (WHO) reform debate is held in parallel,” said German Health Minister Jens Spahn. He did not say when the reform process should begin, but stressed that as a result of the overhaul the WHO should become faster in its reaction to health crises, while its member states should share more information in emergencies. “It is extremely important we move ahead with this reform,” said EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides. The EU draft document, which will represent the EU’s position at a WHO assembly in mid-November, urges the WHO to make public more quickly how and whether its member states respect their obligations on sharing information on health crises. The United States has accused the WHO of being too close to China in the first phase of the pandemic, when critics say Beijing was slow in sharing crucial information on the new coronavirus, which first appeared in the city of Wuhan. The WHO has repeatedly dismissed these accusations.