France is highly progressive with PrEP access. It is completely free at the point of use, and unlike countries that restrict it to hospital pharmacies, France allows you to pick up PrEP at any standard street pharmacy. That is the good news. The bad news is that the only real bottleneck is securing a doctor's appointment to get the prescription, especially in major cities.
Who Can Get It
The French public health system (Assurance Maladie) covers PrEP at 100% for those at elevated risk.
- This explicitly covers men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender individuals.
- It also covers sex workers, individuals with multiple partners, or anyone with a recent history of STIs without condom use.
- The catch: To get it for free, you need to be registered in the French healthcare system (have a numéro de Sécurité sociale and ideally a Carte Vitale), or qualify for State Medical Assistance (AME) for undocumented residents. Tourists cannot get it for free.
How to Get It
You have two distinct routes to get a PrEP prescription (ordonnance).
Route 1: The General Practitioner (Fastest, Insurance Needed)
Since 2021, any general practitioner (médecin généraliste) in France is legally allowed to prescribe your initial PrEP regimen.
- The Booking: You book an appointment on Doctolib (the national medical booking app).
- The Lab Requisition: The doctor writes you a lab requisition (ordonnance pour prise de sang).
- The Blood Draw: You go to a local private lab (laboratoire d'analyses médicales) for the tests.
- The Prescription: You return to the GP with your results (often sent electronically) to receive the actual PrEP prescription.
- The Pharmacy: You take the prescription to any standard green-cross pharmacy (pharmacie) to pick it up.
The Doctolib Hack: When searching for a GP on Doctolib, you can often search for the keyword "PrEP" or look for doctors specializing in Infectiologie to find a practitioner who is familiar with the protocol and won't ask naive questions.
Route 2: The CeGIDD (Free, No Insurance Needed)
You can go to a CeGIDD (Centre Gratuit d'Information, de Dépistage et de Diagnostic).
- The Setup: You will see a doctor, get your blood drawn on-site or nearby, and receive a prescription.
- The Catch: While it is completely free and requires no upfront payment or Carte Vitale, it can take weeks to secure an appointment in major cities like Paris or Lyon.
If You Can't Wait
Because any GP can prescribe PrEP, the "waitlist" problem in France is mostly solved by simply finding an available doctor on Doctolib or using a telemedicine platform.
Telemedicine: Certain online platforms can provide PrEP consultations and lab requisitions. If you are struggling to find a local GP, this is the fastest bridge.
Self-Sourcing: Importing generic PrEP by mail from outside the EU is heavily restricted by French customs and packages are frequently seized. Because PrEP is fully reimbursed and widely available through GPs in France, importing by mail is rarely necessary or recommended. If you are traveling into France, you can bring up to a 3-month supply for personal use, provided you have a valid prescription with you.
Non-negotiable regardless of route: You must confirm you are HIV-negative before starting PrEP. Starting PrEP with an undetected HIV infection risks developing drug resistance, making the virus much harder to treat.
What Happens After
PrEP requires a monitoring check-up every 3 months. Whether you use a GP or a CeGIDD, this is fully covered if you are in the health system.
Your quarterly check-up should include:
- HIV test (4th gen/PCR)
- Kidney function test (Creatinine/eGFR)
- STI screen: Syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhoea. Make sure the lab requisition specifies three-site testing (throat, genitals, rectum). If your GP forgets to write this, you might only get a blood and urine test, missing throat or rectal infections.
Note: Vaccinations for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, HPV, and Mpox are often reviewed and offered during these consultations. This is a good time to get up to date.
What's Available
- Daily oral PrEP: The standard. TDF/FTC (generic Truvada).
- On-demand (2-1-1): Taking pills before and after sex. Widely supported in France; ask your doctor to note this on your prescription if you plan to dose this way, so the pill count makes sense to the pharmacist.
- Injectable (CAB-LA / Apretude): As of March 2026, long-acting injectable PrEP (Apretude) is available and reimbursed in France. It requires an intramuscular injection every two months and is typically administered in specialized hospital centers or CeGIDDs, which may have longer wait times to initiate than oral PrEP at a GP.
If you are taking daily oral PrEP (TDF/FTC), it takes 7 days of continuous use to reach maximum protection for receptive anal sex.
Access Methods Compared
| Route | Cost | Speed | Monitoring |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public System (CeGIDD) | Free | Slow (Weeks for appt) | Handled by clinic |
| Private Clinic (GP) | Free (Reimbursed) / Fee for tourists | Fast (Days via Doctolib) | Patient coordinates with lab & GP |
| Self-Sourced (Import) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Related: