diff --git a/backend/requirements.txt b/backend/requirements.txt
index 28b8368..689102e 100644
--- a/backend/requirements.txt
+++ b/backend/requirements.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ sqlalchemy>=2.0.23
 psycopg2-binary>=2.9.9
 pydantic[email]>=2.5.0
 httpx>=0.25.2
+certifi>=2024.0.0
 python-dotenv>=1.0.0
 python-multipart>=0.0.7
 openpyxl>=3.1.2
diff --git a/backend/whatsapp.py b/backend/whatsapp.py
index 8452def..fbfc9a8 100644
--- a/backend/whatsapp.py
+++ b/backend/whatsapp.py
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ WhatsApp Cloud API Service
 Handles sending WhatsApp messages via Meta's API
 """
 import os
+import ssl
 import httpx
+import certifi
 import re
 import logging
 from typing import Optional
@@ -164,7 +166,8 @@ class WhatsAppService:
         url = f"{self.base_url}/{self.phone_number_id}/messages"
         
         try:
-            async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
+            ssl_ctx = ssl.create_default_context(cafile=certifi.where())
+            async with httpx.AsyncClient(verify=ssl_ctx) as client:
                 response = await client.post(
                     url,
                     json=payload,
@@ -294,7 +297,8 @@ class WhatsAppService:
         print("=" * 80 + "\n")
         
         try:
-            async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
+            ssl_ctx = ssl.create_default_context(cafile=certifi.where())
+            async with httpx.AsyncClient(verify=ssl_ctx) as client:
                 response = await client.post(
                     url,
                     json=payload,