Multiple myeloma is the third most common type of blood cancer after lymphoma and acute leukemia that occurs in the plasma cells within the bone marrow.

There are currently about 10,000 patients in Korea, which is a tenfold increase from 20 years ago. The number of patients continues to increase due to the aging population and the increased average life expectancy, and approximately 160,000 patients are being newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma every year.

It has been now 10 years since I first served as chairman of KMPG. During the past decade, many new drugs and treatments for the relapsing, difficult-to-cure multiple myeloma have been approved for development and released in Korea.

As chairman, the fellow members of KMPG and I have persistently worked to provide prompt access and reimbursement to the new treatments for our patients in Korea.

We are in this for the long race; for the next 10 to 20 years to come, we aim to work together with multiple myeloma patient communities and patients around the world to improve the current treatment environment and provide the latest information on the disease to our patients.

The establishment of the KMPG webpage is one of the strides to interact with multiple myeloma patients around the world.

As global citizens, we stand here together as one for the myeloma patients. I would like to express my gratitude to our fellow multiple myeloma patients and their families, as well as the government, pharmaceutical companies and media who have shown us support. I wish you all the best of health and happiness.

Thank you.