GENEVA/LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) is underpowered and underfunded, and must be reformed to give it the resourcing to be more effective, according to an independent panel reviewing the WHO and the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are not here to assign blame, but to make concrete recommendations to help the world respond faster and better in future," the panel's co-chair Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, told reporters on a briefing on Tuesday, a day after the panel's interim report was issued.

"I do believe that WHO is reformable," she said. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Kate Kelland, editing by xxxx)