Marrakech Taxi Drivers Offer Free Rides to Dialysis Patients

In Marrakech, taxi drivers transport kidney failure patients to dialysis centers and then take them back home free of charge. This initiative, which aims to relieve these patients of the difficulties related to waiting for means of transport after long dialysis sessions, will soon be extended throughout the ochre city.

Where did this idea come from? The beginnings of this initiative appeared during the Covid-19 pandemic, a period marked by many restrictions, explained a professional driver, stressing that these restrictions had complicated the movements of patients to the dialysis centers. He contributes to this operation about four times a week. According to the explanations of another professional driver, this initiative was proposed by some drivers and was quickly welcomed by the others.

"We started with rudimentary means, using WhatsApp, and we met in cafes to improve our mode of operation and organize coordination. Subsequently, unionists and a cooperative provided us with their support," he explained. This initiative comes to relieve sick people, especially patients with kidney failure, who greatly need taxis and means of transport. "Their physical endurance is often weakened after treatment sessions that last several hours," he specified, calling on other professional drivers to follow suit. Currently, the taxi drivers contributing to the initiative are carrying out 60 free trips per week.

This action is a real "blessing," praised a patient who has been undergoing dialysis sessions for 15 years. The father of a child with kidney failure also feels a sense of satisfaction.