The Start of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in the Countries of EECA

The training was comprised of two parts: the first part was aimed at community representatives, while the second was for medical professionals. The first group discussed how to ensure a high level of knowledge among the LGBT community on how to support gay and other men who have sex with men (MSM) and trans* women using PrEP, and how to ensure cooperation with doctors. Meanwhile, the group of doctors discussed how the overall scheme of PrEP services should look and how to monitor and evaluate the pilot project.

Dr Donn Colby. Photo Credit: ECOM

The participants of the training included specialists, experts, and activists, who will be involved in developing and carrying out the pilot project: employees of medical institutions that provide assistance to HIV-positive people, epidemiologists, representatives of LGBT organizations, a representative of the LGBT community in the Georgian CCM, and specialists from service NGOs, working with MSM on HIV and STI prevention.

The pilot project will be implemented under a new grant, which Georgia will receive from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GF). The work will be concentrated in Tbilisi. In the second half of 2016, a project protocol, communications strategy to inform the LGBT community about PrEP, and a mechanism for recruiting and retaining clients will be developed. Currently, there is no clear answer whether the first group of the project’s clients will include gay and other MSM, as well as trans* women, or whether trans* women will only be included in the project at a later time. It is expected that 100 participants will be selected in 2017, and another 100 in 2018.

The AIDS Center will be the lead organization of the project. LGBT Georgia and other LGBT organizations will be among the key partners of the project. Their main tasks will be to provide effective information to the community, recruit participants, provide psychosocial support to retain participants in the project, and to ensure adherence to the use of PrEP. Most likely, the project will use tenofovir-emtricitabine as a preventative drug to be taken daily.

Participants. Photo Credit: ECOM

The main controversy at the meeting was about where to hold interviews and medical testing of participants before they begin taking PrEP and after completing the project. Is it better to do this within community-based organizations and bring in a medical professional, or do this in a medical facility, where a consultant from an LGBT organization will be present? Since the purpose and motivation for taking anti-retroviral medication differ significantly between HIV-positive and HIV-negative people, the question of where counseling and dispensation will take place is very important.

Another question was where funding for the entire project will come from: GF funds will only be used to purchase PrEP medication. The NCDC of Georgia will organize the monitoring of the project’s results. In addition, a special monitoring group may be created, which would include a wide range of stakeholders, including international partners and donors.

A photo gallery of the activities is available on ECOM’s Facebook page.

The training was organized jointly by ECOM and LGBT Georgia. Funding for the training was provided by the Global Fund through the “Community, Rights and Gender Technical Assistance Program.”

For further questions please contact gena@ecom.ngo.

This material was published within the framework of the "Regional Civil Society and Community Support, Coordination and Communication Platform in Eastern Europe and Central Asia" project. Learn more on Project's Facebook page.