Erik Solenheim, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme visited Center for Ecological Sciences at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru to deliver a talk about the interface of science and policy.

In his talk titled ‘Science Policy Interface: Insights and ideas for a changing world’ Mr. Solenheim spoke about the three main environmental challenges of we face today namely; climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity.

Kala-azar or visceral leishmaniasis is the second most deadliest tropical diseases after malaria and is spread by the bite of infected sandflies. India is one of the few countries still affected by this disease and has launched many programmes to eliminate the spread of the disease. Now, a new study has proposed a mathematical model that can help control the disease by monitoring the numbers of infected individuals and sandfly population, and has suggested that a combination of the drug based treatment and the use of insecticides to control sandflies could be our best strategy to eliminate the disease from the country.