The public health care system is starting to provide Pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment and affordable generic medicines are available now. The price for the medicine in Finnish pharmacies is now 75 euros for 30 tablets. It is getting more affordable, but it is still more expensive than in many European countries: for example, in Sweden and in Germany you can get 30 tablets for 15-50 euros.
If the Finnish price is too high for you, ask your doctor to write you an EU prescription – with that you can pick up your PrEP medicine in any European pharmacy (that has the medicine in stock). You can even order it from reliable internet based pharmacies.
The Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) is starting to give PrEP treatments at the Venereal Diseases Outpatient Clinic (Sukupuolitautien poliklinikka). The doctor’s visits and follow up are free through the public health care system (only for people who are covered by Finnish social security), but the patient must pay the full amount for the medicine.
People who are at high risk of getting HIV (sex without a condom with several partners) can now get a referral to the Venereal Diseases Outpatient Clinic for PrEP evaluation from Hivpoint. PrEP is a relatively new matter in Finnish health care so it’s good to keep in mind that it can take some time to get the doctor’s appointment. The practices concerning PrEP in other areas than Helsinki are under development at the time being.
Hivpoint is advocating at various Pride events around the country for PrEP to be accessible and affordable for all people who need it! Follow the miestenkesken.fi website for more details.