SINGAPORE — To help members of the public empathise with kidney patients and raise awareness about kidney failure, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is hoping to get 1,000 people to come forward and do nothing, literally, for four hours while being confined to a chair.

The Sit-A-Thon — the first to be organised by the NKF — will be held at the Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza on July 28. Efforts to recruit participants began early this month through companies and schools, while posters have also been put up at 25 NKF dialysis centres around the island.

Through the event, the NKF hopes to encourage the participants to “take proactive steps to maintain a healthy lifestyle, thereby reducing or retarding the progress of kidney diseases”, said an NKF spokesperson.

Among those who have signed up is sales support executive Sally Chen, who has also roped in her husband and a friend to take part.

She said: “I had a teacher who went through dialysis, so when I saw the pamphlets, which my company’s human resource department sent out, I decided to sign up and play a part in raising awareness.”

At the Sit-A-Thon, professional emcee Allen Kwok, 49, would be helping to “distract” the participants with quizzes and games.

For Mr Kwok, this is not just another gig: His wife was diagnosed with kidney failure and has been undergoing dialysis for the last 16 years with NKF.

Compared to more conventional methods to increase awareness about kidney failure, Mr Kwok felt the Sit-A-Thon would drive home a serious message. “I don’t think people understand or are able to feel what patients are going through as they have no access into a dialysis centre,” he said.

As part of their treatment, kidney patients have to go through dialysis at least three times a week — each session lasting about four hours — in order for waste, salt and water to be removed from their systems.

Mr Kwok’s wife, Ms Poh Lian, 46, said she wished the time could be better spent — such as with their 11-year-old son. Mr Kwok added: “It’s not just about being hooked up to a machine and, four hours later, you’re fine ... You feel the effects for the whole day.”

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, the number of new patients diagnosed with end-stage renal disease increased from 680 in 1999 to 1,405 in 2010. As at the end of 2010, a total of 4,593 patients were on dialysis — an 87 per cent increase compared to 1999.

Currently, an average of three new cases of kidney failure are diagnosed each day, said the NKF, which takes care of about 2,500 patients — or 90 per cent of kidney patients from Singapore’s lower-income group — who require dialysis.