Saudi Taxi Service Offers Free Ride To Women Going For Breast Cancer Check-ups, Casting Votes

Saudi women — Women pose during the "Pink October" national campaign which aims to raise awareness for breast cancer, in Jeddah October 28, 2010. REUTERS/Susan Baaghil

A taxi service in Saudi Arabia has offered free rides to women to raise breast cancer awareness. “Easy Taxi” has collaborated with Zahra Breast Cancer Association in Saudi Arabia to give free rides to Saudi women to do breast cancer check-ups in hospitals in Riyadh and Jeddah.

Easy Taxi Saudi Arabia’s General Manager Eugen Brikcius said it was an honor to get involved in the cause.

“We are honored to partner with a foundation as impactful and inspiring as Zahra Breast Cancer Association that gives women a fighting chance by providing early detection, education and support services,” Saudi Gazette quoted Brikcius as saying. “This is a worthwhile cause we should shed the lights on in admiration to every patient who lost once the battle or is still fighting.”

The organization has also arranged free breast cancer check-ups in a number of hospitals in those cities, such as Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi Center of Excellence in Breast Cancer, the National Program for Early Cancer Detection and Abdullatif Center for Early Detection in Jeddah.

This is not the first time Easy Taxi is involved in a social cause in Saudi Arabia. It has offered free rides to female votes going to cast vote during the municipal elections in December. The offer, announced in September, is valid for four cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Al-Khobar. This is the first time Saudi women are allowed to take part in elections, both as voters and as candidates.

Al-Zahra is going to place checkup units in points where Saudi women frequently visit. In Saudi Arabia, 27 percent of female cancer patients suffer from Breast cancer, according to Arab News.

The free ride is available until October which is observed as the Breast Cancer Awareness month in the country to raise awareness for breast cancer. Women passengers get free tickets on their email registered with Easy Taxi. They need to take a print out of the ticket to avail the free offer.

According to the official website of the taxi service, it serves more than 20 million users in 420 cities across 30 countries. The company operates in countries like Brazil, Egypt, Hong Kong, Mexico and Malaysia.