The initiative focuses on international collaboration to enable effective interventions within the first 100 days of a potential pandemic threat.

Pillay was speaking at the 4th G20 Health Working Group meeting in Johannesburg, Gauteng province,  where world leaders and policymakers are gathered this week to discuss pandemic prevention and preparedness.

"It's a bit like an orchestra, there are different parts that need to come together. When we have an outbreak, we need to identify the pathogen and what we describe as characterise it, in other words, understand its structure and how it affects body systems. Then we need to understand how we could best interfere with its ability to harm us and design a vaccine or a drug based on that. So once the characterisation happens, those who develop vaccines need to quickly work in the lab and put together a vaccine that disrupts its ability to harm us, or someone who is developing a drug needs to do that," said Pillay.

--ChannelAfrica--