Glenmark attempts to create a Guinness World Record for longest air pollution awareness ribbon at Sambhar Lake, Rajasthan

Jaipur, India, December 10, 2018: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a research-led global integrated
pharmaceutical company,yesterday attempted to create a Guinness World Record for the longest
ribbon for air pollution awareness near Sambhar Lake, Rajasthan. The 6-km long ribbon was made
by stitching together cloths which hadanti-air pollution messages from close to 6,500 healthcare
professionals across India.
This initiative of Glenmark was supported by I-CAN (Cough Awareness Network), a campaign by
doctors intended to create awareness on rising air pollution and ways to reduce it.
According to the World Health Organization’s estimates, 14 of the 20 most polluted cities in the
world are in India. 1 In November 2017, air quality readings in India’s national capital touched the
1,000 mark on the US embassy air quality index. WHO considers particulate matter (PM) 2.5 levels
above 25 to be unsafe. According to Berkeley Earth Science Research Group, breathing in air with a
PM2.5 content of between 950 to 1,000 is considered roughly equivalent to smoking 44 cigarettes a
day. 2
“Air pollution has become a major cause of concern in India. The quality of air in many of our cities is
continuously deteriorating. As a responsible organization, Glenmark is committed to sustainable
development and through this Guinness World Record attempt, we intend to increase public
awareness about the ill effects of air pollution and highlight the need to safeguard not just the
health of our people but also the environment,”said Sujesh Vasudevan, President, India
Formulations, Middle East and Africa at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.
Rapidly deteriorating air quality is becoming a serious health concern leading to increasing number
of people falling ill. Air pollution leads to chronic cough, respiratory problems as well as irritation of
eyes in both adults as well as children. A WHO report titled ‘Air Pollution and Child Health:
Prescribing Clean Air’ states that nearly 1.25 lakh children below the age of 5 died in India in 2016
because of toxic air. 3
“Air pollution is one the main reasons forincreasing number of people suffering from respiratory
diseases. Breathing polluted air increasesrisk of infection and impairs our body’s defense system by
triggering allergies that lead to respiratory problems like cough, asthma, sneezing and bronchitis.
Through this initiative, we intend to spread awareness about health impacts of air pollution and
implement measures to reduce its intensity,”said Dr. Puneet Saxena, Senior Professor, Medicine,
SMS Medical College and Hospital.

Glenmark will be submitting all the necessary documents and proofs of the successful attempt to
the Guinness World Record adjudicator/council for evaluation. Glenmark will also partner with
NGOs to make bags out of the cloth used to make the ribbon and distribute it to the healthcare
professionals to further create awareness about air pollution.