A recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that many of the organization’s challenges stem from its growing scope of responsibility coupled with a stagnant budget that largely relies on voluntary donations often earmarked for specific issues. The WHO must also grapple with the dual mandate of being both a “technical agency with health expertise and a political body where states debate and negotiate on sometimes divisive health issues,” the report found. That, along with a large, decentralized, and bureaucratic structure, often leads to slow, indecisive actions by the agency.

Still, says Dach, “the time to work to make them better is after the crisis. It’s not a good idea to drop the thing into the ocean and forget about it.”