PEP is a 28-day course of medication that can stop an HIV infection from taking hold. You must start within 72 hours of exposure — the sooner the better, ideally within 24 hours. Every hour counts.

In Georgia PEP runs through the state HIV programme and its community partners, and for the person who needs it, it is provided free. The thing that decides whether you get it in time is knowing which door to walk through right now. Here is the plan.

🚨 Step 1: Get to the Right Door Now

Your route depends on the time and day.

During working hours (Mon–Fri)

Go to one of these two. Either can start you on PEP:

  • Equality Movement — Ia Kargareteli Street #2, Tbilisi. Tel 032 247 97 48. Open Mon–Fri 12:00–19:00. The gay-friendly community front door; they assess you and route you straight into PEP.
  • Infectious Diseases and AIDS Center (Tengiz Tsertsvadze Center) — Lubliana Street #70, Tbilisi. PEP/counselling line +995 551 82 66 66. PEP desk Mon–Fri 10:00–16:30, 1st floor, rooms 44 and 45.

Nights, weekends, holidays

The AIDS Center covers PEP around the clock. Outside working hours, go to the same building (Lubliana #70) and ask at the 5th floor. The 24-hour emergency line is +995 595 395 566. Do not wait until Monday if that pushes you past the 72-hour window.

Do not go to a random general clinic or your family doctor for PEP — most are not set up for it and you will lose hours you cannot afford. The AIDS Center and Equality Movement are the routes that actually stock it and know the protocol.

🗣️ Step 2: What to Say

Staff will not guess why you are there, and embarrassment only costs you time. Be direct. In Georgian:

  • What you need: "Savaraudod, sheidzleba HIV-is riski mkonda. Minda PEP daviq’ho." — "I may have had an HIV risk. I want to start PEP."
  • The timing: "Kontakti iqo [X] saatis c'in." — "The exposure was [X] hours ago."
  • The exposure: say plainly what happened — a condom broke, the other person's status is unknown or positive.

Have the Georgian ready on your phone to show at the desk. The vocabulary guide below has the phrases.

💊 Step 3: The Course

PEP is a combination of antiretroviral drugs taken daily for 28 days — in Georgia typically tenofovir + lamivudine (or Truvada, TDF/FTC) plus a third drug the doctor selects. Do not miss doses; set a daily phone alarm.

Side effects like nausea, headache, or fatigue are common in the first week and ease off — they are not dangerous, and they stop when the course ends. If they are hard to manage, tell the prescribing doctor rather than quitting. You will need follow-up HIV testing after the course and again a few weeks later to confirm you are clear. Keep using condoms until then.

💡 Step 4: The Sustainable Fix

If you have needed PEP, that is the signal to move to PrEP — ongoing protection that removes the 72-hour scramble entirely. It is free here through the same organisations that just handled your PEP, and the transition is easy to set up before your PEP course even ends. The PrEP guide below walks it through.

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