It is a key international actor in the Corona crisis: the World Health Organization (WHO) based in Geneva. In a recent article on the role of international law in dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg take a closer look at the increasingly criticized United Nations health authority: How effective are the International Health Regulations (IHR), the WHO's main instrument for curbing the global spread of disease? The scientists from Heidelberg also take a stand on current political controversies.