--- title: Ebola Crisis: Experts Call WHO Response a 'Failure' description: A panel of 19 experts has condemned the World Health Organization's response to the Ebola crisis, calling it an "egregious failure" canonical: https://time.com/4123858/ebola-crisis-who-response-failure/ author: Joanna Plucinska article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-23T04:04:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:50:15.740Z article:section: Health og:title: Experts Slam WHO Response to Ebola og:description: Top panel calls the WHO's handling of Ebola an "egregious failure," og:url: https://time.com/4123858/ebola-crisis-who-response-failure/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89cd5df90f0c6740/698872622dce01ed569e69ee/491388416.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ebola Treatment Center As Guinea Economy Rebuilds Ahead Of October Election og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Experts Slam WHO Response to Ebola twitter:description: Top panel calls the WHO's handling of Ebola an "egregious failure," twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89cd5df90f0c6740/698872622dce01ed569e69ee/491388416.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Experts Say the WHO's Response to the Ebola Crisis Has Been a 'Failure' ## Video: Ebola Fighters in the U.S. - TIME's Person of the Year 2014 [Watch (HLS stream): Ebola Fighters in the U.S. - TIME's Person of the Year 2014](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SBg4j1BY.m3u8) (6:15)  _Published 2014-12-10. Dr. Kent Brantly and other health care workers talk about surviving Ebola_ by [Joanna Plucinska](https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Nov 23, 2015 4:04 AM UTC  A healthcare worker assists a colleague to dress in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at an Ebola Treatment Center in Coyah, Guinea, on Sept. 10, 2015 A healthcare worker assists a colleague to dress in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at an Ebola Treatment Center in Coyah, Guinea, on Sept. 10, 2015Waldo Swiegers—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Joanna Plucinska](https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Nov 23, 2015 4:04 AM UTC A panel of [19 experts](http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/11/an-indictment-of-ebola-response/) brought together by the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) on Sunday condemned the World Health Organization’s (WHO) response to the Ebola crisis, calling it an [“egregious failure.”](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/22/us-health-ebola-response-idUSKBN0TB10K20151122#YxkL6QwcT4v8eYQg.97) “People at WHO were aware that there was an Ebola outbreak that was getting out of control by spring, and yet it took until August to declare a public health emergency,” Ashish Jha, HGHI’s director and a member of the panel, said, according to [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/22/us-health-ebola-response-idUSKBN0TB10K20151122#YxkL6QwcT4v8eYQg.97). The group accused the WHO of enabling “immense human suffering, fear and chaos” as a result of their delayed response to the epidemic, the [_Harvard Gazette_](http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/11/an-indictment-of-ebola-response/) adds. The conclusions come from [a study](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2815%2900946-0/fulltext) published by the experts in the British medical journal _the_ _Lancet_, according to the [_Gazette_](http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/11/an-indictment-of-ebola-response/). The panel also offered 10 recommendations to prevent similar epidemics from causing as much damage. “We need to strengthen core capacities in all countries to detect, report and respond rapidly to small outbreaks in order to prevent them from becoming large-scale emergencies,” said [Peter Piot](http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/people/piot.peter), the director of LSHTM, according to Reuters. The Ebola crisis has claimed at least 11,300 lives in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since December 2013, Reuters reports. The WHO has yet to respond to the panel. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/22/us-health-ebola-response-idUSKBN0TB10K20151122#YxkL6QwcT4v8eYQg.97)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4123858/ebola-crisis-who-response-failure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4123858/ebola-crisis-who-response-failure/"},"headline":"Experts Say the WHO's Response to the Ebola Crisis Has Been a 'Failure'","datePublished":"2015-11-23T04:04:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:50:15.740Z","description":"The Ebola crisis has claimed at least 11,300 lives in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since December 2013","url":"https://time.com/4123858/ebola-crisis-who-response-failure/","keywords":["ebola","Sierra Leone","WHO","World Health Organization","Guinea","epidemic","Liberia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89cd5df90f0c6740/698872622dce01ed569e69ee/491388416.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joanna Plucinska","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89cd5df90f0c6740/698872622dce01ed569e69ee/491388416.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ebola Treatment Center As Guinea Economy Rebuilds Ahead Of October Election","caption":"Ebola Treatment Center As Guinea Economy Rebuilds Ahead Of October Election","creditText":"Waldo Swiegers—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4123858/ebola-crisis-who-response-failure/","name":"Experts Say the WHO's Response to the Ebola Crisis Has Been a 'Failure'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ebola Fighters in the U.S. - TIME's Person of the Year 2014","description":"Dr. Kent Brantly and other health care workers talk about surviving Ebola","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SBg4j1BY/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-10T11:44:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SBg4j1BY.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4123858/ebola-crisis-who-response-failure/","duration":"PT6M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4123858/ebola-crisis-who-response-failure/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```