GENEVA, (Reuters) – The World Health Organization’s governing body agreed Monday to create a new committee in order to speed up the organization’s response to urgent health issues like COVID-19.

Criticisms were levelled at the U.N. Health Agency for handling the COVID-19 Pandemic. This included the speed of response to cases in the early stages of detection, which may have delayed the disease’s spread and allowed it to be missed. Experts in disease prevention say governments and WHO should avoid making the same mistakes with future outbreaks such as monkeypox.

This resolution, which was unanimously passed at the annual meeting of 34 members, the Executive Board, created a new “Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response” to address some perceived weaknesses.

The formal WHO meetings can sometimes be spread out over months. Under the new initiative the new body will meet right after the Director General declares a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. This decision triggers requests for additional funding and public health measures, as well as a number of recommendations to control disease spreading.

Clemens Martin auer from Austria, the person who suggested the resolution to the Executive Board, stated that “This was likely one of the weakest parts during the last Pandemic.”

The new committee will also oversee the WHO’s emergency health program in normal times, he said. This would ensure that it can respond to emergencies.

He said, “I believe the standing committee would be an essential part of the global new architecture on the health emergency.” This initiative was co-sponsored by the United States of America, Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom.