Hyderabad, August 22, 2024: Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., a global pharmaceutical company, announced that it has set a new Guinness World Record for building the largest brochure mosaic (logo) installation. This installation is part of its glycemic happiness awareness initiative for patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The largest installation that entered the Guinness World Record stands at 162 square metres and consists of feedback from healthcare professionals across India on the ‘Glycemic Happiness Scale’.

India has about 101 million patients with diabetes . A common burden associated with diabetes is ‘Diabetes Distress’ which is defined as an emotional response characterised by extreme apprehension, discomfort or dejection, due to perceived inability in coping with the challenges and demands of living with diabetes . In India, around 42% diabetes patients suffer from high distress levels . According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), psycho-social care should be provided to all people with diabetes . Therefore, glycemic happiness plays an important role in helping patients with diabetes to improve and manage their condition.

Dr. Reddy’s’ Glycemic Happiness awareness initiative sheds light on the factors contributing to psycho-social wellness for a holistic approach in the management of diabetes. As part of the initiative, Dr. Reddy’s collaborated with renowned endocrinologists and diabetologists across India on the concept of glycemic happiness for patients living with diabetes mellitus. The company also developed a tool ‘Glycemic Happiness Scale’ that helps healthcare professionals measure glycemic happiness among patients with diabetes. The scale includes 10 questions with scores assigned to their interpretation showcasing patients living with diabetes as unhappy, neutral or happy. The scale was shared with over 7,500 healthcare professionals (HCPs) across India including consulting physicians, endocrinologists, diabetologists, and cardiologists, educating them on the need to measure glycemic happiness among Type-2 diabetes mellitus patients. An overwhelming majority of these HCPs agreed that the “Glycemic Happiness Scale” is a useful tool to measure glycemic happiness of Type-2 diabetes mellitus patients. Over 6,200 HCPs used the scale to the benefit of over 30,000 patients, thereby demonstrating their support towards scaling up glycemic happiness among patients with diabetes.

Sandeep Khandelwal, Head-India Business, Dr. Reddy’s, said: “India is the diabetes capital of the world and our efforts should be towards transforming India into a diabetes care capital of the world. Attention to psycho-social factors has become important for a holistic approach to manage diabetes mellitus. Therefore, in addition to our strong diabetes portfolio with drugs such as Glimy™, Reclide™, Reclimet™ and Daplo™, we aim to promote the importance of glycemic happiness and increase its awareness among patients, HCPs, and caregivers through this first-of-its-kind initiative. We are certain that our initiative will contribute to the enhancement of the current standard of care in diabetes management.”

Dr. Sanjay Kalra, MBBS, MD, DM (AIIMS New Delhi), Endocrinologist, Immediate Past President, South Asian Federation of Endocrine Societies, remarked, “Dr. Reddy’s campaign to promote Glycemic Happiness is truly commendable. Patients with diabetes often face anxiety and social isolation, which negatively impacts both their mental and physical health. This campaign has provided valuable insights into the factors contributing to low Glycemic Happiness, enabling us to better support our patients in leading healthier and more fulfilling lives.”

The unveiling ceremony was held in Hyderabad. Swapnil Dangarikar, Senior Adjudicator, Guinness World Records, handed over the ‘Largest Brochure Mosaic (logo)’ citation to the representatives of Dr. Reddy’s. As a responsible organisation, Dr. Reddy’s has partnered with a Hyderabad-based company for recycling of the brochures.