On 10 December, International Human Rights Day, we are reminded that the right to health must apply to everyone — without exceptions.
Within the framework of the regional project “Sustainability of Services for Key Populations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) – #iSoS: Empowering and Innovations”, implemented by the Alliance for Public Health, we are publishing an Expertise on barriers to PrEP access for transgender people in Georgia.
As highlighted by author Dr. Karen Badalyan, this expertise was developed not for the sake of statistics, but to make systemic problems visible to decision-makers. It documents how legal, medical, administrative, social, and economic barriers directly limit transgender people’s access to HIV prevention.
The findings demonstrate that these barriers are not abstract. They are embedded in:
- restrictive legal gender recognition procedures
- absence of clear clinical guidelines for transgender patients
- insufficient training of healthcare providers
- stigma and discrimination in medical settings
- limited availability of PrEP outside major cities
Importantly, the analysis is grounded in real voices — transgender people, healthcare workers, civil society actors, and state stakeholders — making its conclusions practical and verifiable rather than theoretical.
“Access to PrEP for transgender people is an indicator of how fair and effective the healthcare system truly is. When trans people’s needs are not considered, the system loses trust and public health impact,”
— Dr. Karen Badalyan, Expert on Gender, Communities, and HIV
The expertise is accompanied by five thematic briefs addressing civil society, community, economic, legal and political, and medical and service barriers. Together, they provide a concrete basis for action by government institutions, donors, and implementing partners.
One of the goals of the document is to move from general discussions to practical steps that ensure stable, understandable, and inclusive access to PrEP — including for transgender people living outside capital cities.
Read the full expertise and policy briefs: https://region.aph.org.ua/expertise-of-prep-access-for-transgender-people-in-georgia/