SINGAPORE – Suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure that caused her kidneys to fail in 2021, Azliza Aman found it difficult to hold down a full-time job.

“I was working at a call centre for the travel industry, but because Covid-19 disrupted the industry, I became unemployed for about two years. When I managed to secure a job at another call centre in 2023, I had to give it up after more than a year,” the 57-year-old told The Straits Times.

By then, Azliza had started dialysis, which meant she had to undergo treatment three times a week, with each session lasting four hours.

“I had picked the last session, which starts at 5.30pm, but the company was unable to let me leave early as work ended at 6pm,” she said.

Like Azliza, dialysis patients typically undergo treatment three times a week, with the sessions taking up about 12 hours per week. It is this life-saving treatment that makes it a struggle for them to keep their jobs and makes potential employers hesitate to hire them.

For some, the hardest part of dialysis is the gradual feeling of being excluded from normal life and the workforce.

To help, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and five other dialysis providers here have come together on a shared platform to work with employers and advocate greater understanding, workplace inclusion and employment opportunities for around 10,000 dialysis patients in Singapore.

The shared platform comprises DaVita, Diaverum, Kidney Dialysis Foundation, NKF, SATA CommHealth and Tzu Chi Foundation (Singapore).