If you test positive via Checkpoint or a private lab, you will usually be referred to Syggros Hospital in Athens or another public hospital's infectious diseases or dermatology department for treatment. With an AMKA, treatment is generally free or low cost. Without an AMKA, you can still be treated but will have to pay the consultation and medication fees out of pocket.

Key contacts:

  • Ath Checkpoint — mycheckpoint.gr | 210 33 10 400 (Mon–Sat 12:00–20:00) — can advise on your next steps and refer you to the right specialist
  • Andreas Syggros Hospital — Ionos Dragoumi 5, Kaisariani | 210 726 5100

🦠 Treatment Pathways

Greece follows the standard European (IUSTI/ECDC) treatment protocols. What changes here is the logistics — where the prescription is written and where the medication actually goes into you.

Chlamydia

  • The treatment: A course of oral doxycycline (usually 100mg twice a day for 7 days). Straightforward tablets, no injection.
  • The pathway: The prescribing doctor — at Syggros, a hospital dermatology-venereology (δερματολογικό-αφροδισιολογικό) department, or Checkpoint's referral — issues an electronic prescription through the national system (ΣΗΣ). With an AMKA you collect the antibiotics from any community pharmacy, largely covered by EOPYY; you pay only a small co-payment. Without an AMKA you pay the full retail price, which for doxycycline is still modest.

Gonorrhoea

  • The injection requirement: Because of rising antibiotic resistance, gonorrhoea is treated with an intramuscular injection of ceftriaxone (typically 1g in the buttock or thigh), often alongside oral azithromycin.
  • The pathway: You cannot handle this one at a pharmacy counter. The injection is given at the clinic or hospital that diagnoses or receives you — Syggros or a hospital ID/dermatology outpatient department. If Checkpoint flagged the result, they refer you in and it is usually administered the same day you attend.

Syphilis

  • Confirmation first: A reactive syphilis test needs a confirmatory venous blood draw to tell a new active infection apart from antibodies left over from a past, already-treated one, and to stage it.
  • The treatment: If active, the standard treatment is a long-acting benzathine penicillin injection into the buttock — one dose for early syphilis, or three weekly doses for later-stage or unstaged infection. This is administered at the hospital or clinic, not a pharmacy. Flag a penicillin allergy up front, as it changes the regimen.

Ask for a full re-screen at the point of treatment — throat, rectal, genital swabs plus bloods. A single positive often travels with a second infection you haven't been swabbed for yet, and it is far easier to clear both in one visit.

📞 Partner Notification

Warning recent partners is how you stop the infection bouncing straight back to you. Greece does not have England-style anonymous SMS notification, so the realistic routes are:

  1. Do it yourself: Message recent partners directly and tell them to get a full screen. A neutral, blame-free line works best: "Got a positive STI result — worth you getting checked too."
  2. Ask for help: The doctor or Checkpoint staff who diagnosed you can advise on how to word it, and many units and NGOs will facilitate confidential notification on your behalf without naming you. If contacting someone directly feels unsafe or impossible, use this route rather than staying silent.

Checkpoint's role: Ath Checkpoint and Thess Checkpoint are used to exactly this conversation. They can talk you through who needs warning, help with the wording, and point partners to the nearest testing site — no judgement, and no obligation to name anyone.

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