In an age when antibiotics are slowly becoming worthless and uncurable diseases like Ebola can lead to thousands of deaths, a new dire diagnosis of the World Health Organization is particularly troubling.

An independent panel of experts has aimed tough criticism at the Geneva-based group, which operates to direct and coordinate health matters within the United Nations system. They say the time to act is now, because “this is a defining moment for the health of the global community.”

The panel—former Oxfam chief Barbara Stocking led top health experts from around the world—studied WHO’s response to the Ebola crisis last year that killed nearly 2,500 people and sickened 7,000 in an outbreak that affected five countries and caused global panic.

“The Ebola crisis not only exposed organizational failings” in how WHO operates but also demonstrated shortcomings in international regulations that were developed in 2005 to deal with infectious disease outbreaks, the experts wrote. On top of that, member states of the United Nations will need to honor their political and financial commitments to WHO.

In the simplest terms, the experts say WHO needs to be transformed and held accountable for changing its ways.

One recommendation that came out of the 28-page report was to create a specialized section of WHO, dubbed the Centre for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response, breaking it away from the core bureaucracy of the international group and giving it autonomy to act quickly. As the report says, “a simple merger will not suffice—[the centre] will need new organizational structures and procedures.”

Like the United Nations, WHO is often turned to in times of global health crisis, but it works with NGOs and governments all over the world to develop strategies.

The experts also found that all levels of WHO need to be strengthened to help it independently identify health risks and declare health emergencies—especially important in war-torn or unstable countries where the government can’t be relied upon for that sort of decision making. One suggestion to help improve participation with member states is for WHO to consider including “innovative financing mechanisms such as insurance triggered to mitigate adverse economic effects.”

In response to the report, leaders at WHO said they would take meaningful action and were already moving forward on some of the panel’s recommendations, “including the development of the global health emergency workforce,” according to a WHO statement.