STI Testing in Warsaw: Free Anonymous Clinics and How They Work
The essentials: Warsaw has free, anonymous STI testing through the national PKD network funded by the National AIDS Centre: no referral, insurance or name needed for HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis tests. Active points include Chmielna 4, Świętokrzyska 30 and Nugat 3 on Ursynów, with consultations in English.
Getting tested for sexually transmitted infections in a new country raises practical questions that have nothing to do with medicine: where do you go, what will it cost, and will anyone there speak English? Warsaw has a genuinely good answer that most expats never hear about: a national network of free, anonymous testing points, funded by the state, that asks for no referral, no insurance and no name. This guide explains how it works, with the current addresses and hours from the National AIDS Centre, checked on 21 October 2026.
What to know: the PKD network covers HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis. For other infections, the route is a dermatologist-venereologist through the NFZ or a private lab; the article covers both paths.
The PKD network: free, anonymous, no questions about status
PKD stands for punkt konsultacyjno-diagnostyczny, a consultation and diagnostic point. The network is coordinated and co-funded by the Krajowe Centrum ds. AIDS, the National AIDS Centre, which publishes the full list of points with addresses, hours and languages on its official site. The model is built around removing barriers: testing is free, anonymous, and open to everyone regardless of insurance, PESEL or migration status. You talk to a counsellor before the test, you can ask anything, and you get the result with an explanation.
The standard offer covers HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis, kiła. Depending on the point, you will find laboratory blood tests, rapid tests with results in minutes, or both. The centres also counsel on prevention, and the National AIDS Centre notes practical details that matter in real life, such as last admission half an hour before closing so that counselling quality stays high.
Data source: Krajowe Centrum ds. AIDS national PKD list, updated 21 October 2026.
The Warsaw points, address by address
Warsaw currently has three active PKD locations. The busiest is the point at the Chmielna Express specialist clinic, ul. Chmielna 4, open Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 19:30. It offers syphilis and HCV screening tests, rapid HIV tests, and consultations in English and Spanish; if your blood is taken before 14:00, the result can be collected the same day, with previous-day results issued from 14:30. The point is co-funded by the National AIDS Centre and the City of Warsaw.
The second is run by the Federa Foundation at ul. Świętokrzyska 30, its newer central location: Tuesday 16:00 to 20:00 and Wednesday 08:00 to 12:00 and 16:00 to 20:00, with rapid tests for syphilis, HCV and HIV, and counsellors who speak English and Russian plus a Ukrainian-speaking nurse. The third is at the Centre for Preventive Medicine and Rehabilitation at Nugat 3 on Ursynów, open Monday to Friday 16:00 to 20:00 with the same language coverage. A fourth point at Jagiellońska 34 in Praga is currently suspended; check the national list before heading anywhere, because hours and locations do change.
Data source: Krajowe Centrum ds. AIDS national PKD list, updated 21 October 2026.
What happens at the point, step by step
The visit is deliberately simple. You arrive during duty hours, no appointment at most points, and see a counsellor who asks about your situation and explains the tests. A blood sample follows, or a rapid test where offered; rapid results come back in 15 to 30 minutes at the points that provide them, while laboratory HIV results are collected on the next duty day. Whatever the result, you receive it from a person, with counselling on what it means and what to do next, not as a bare printout.
Two courtesies keep the system working for everyone: arrive well before the last-admission cutoff, usually 30 minutes before closing, and use the language support on offer. The National AIDS Centre list flags which points work in which languages, and in Warsaw that means English at all three active locations.
Data source: Krajowe Centrum ds. AIDS national PKD list, updated 21 October 2026.
Why the anonymity is the point
It is worth pausing on why the state funds testing that asks for no name. Public-health logic, and the design of the PKD network reflects it: every barrier between a person and a test, a fee, a registration form, an insurance check, a language gap, translates directly into infections diagnosed late or never. Anonymity removes the biggest barrier of all, the fear of a record. Nothing about a PKD visit touches your insurance file, your employer or your residence paperwork, because none of those systems are asked. For expats whose legal situation feels fragile, that separation is the feature that makes testing reachable.
The same design explains the counselling-first format. A result handed over with a conversation, in a language the person understands, is far more likely to lead to treatment and partner notification than a number in an app, which is why the points protect their counselling time so strictly.
Data source: Krajowe Centrum ds. AIDS national PKD list, updated 21 October 2026.
What PKD does not cover, and the other routes
The PKD scope is specific: HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis. For other sexually transmitted infections, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HPV and the rest, testing runs through the ordinary medical system. On the public side, that means a dermatologist-venereologist, dermatolog-wenerolog, reached through your NFZ clinic; a GP can point you in the right direction, and care for insured patients is covered. On the private side, Warsaw's laboratory chains offer full STI panels you can book yourself without a referral, paid per test or per package.
The sensible division of labour for most people: PKD for the three big ones, free and anonymous, and a venereologist or private panel when symptoms or a partner's diagnosis call for a broader workup. If money is the barrier, start with PKD; it costs nothing and its counsellors will tell you honestly what else, if anything, you need.
Data source: Krajowe Centrum ds. AIDS national PKD list, updated 21 October 2026.
Testing weeks and other entry points
The national list also shows how the network promotes itself: Gdańsk's point advertises special hours for Euro Test Week, the European testing campaign that runs each May, when points across the country extend their availability. If you have been putting a test off, those campaign weeks are the easiest possible moment, because the whole system is staffed and expecting newcomers. Outside campaigns, the regular duty hours above are the reliable baseline, and the city of Warsaw's own health portal repeats the core message: free, anonymous, no referral needed.
Data source: Krajowe Centrum ds. AIDS national PKD list and City of Warsaw health portal, updated 21 October 2026.
If you are not in Warsaw
The network is national. The same National AIDS Centre list covers points across the country, Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Chorzów, Częstochowa, Gdańsk, Gdynia, Wrocław and many more, each with published hours and notes on rapid tests and languages. Gdańsk's point, run by the Pomorski Dom Nadziei foundation, even spells it out in the listing: "We speak English." Wherever you land in Poland, the same rules apply: free, anonymous, no referral.
Data source: Krajowe Centrum ds. AIDS national PKD list, updated 21 October 2026.
However you arrive at it, a test on the calendar is the whole game: the system is built to meet you without cost, without questions and, in Warsaw, without a language barrier.
Save the address of your nearest point now, and the hardest part of testing is already behind you.
* Photos: test tubes by Vis M, CC BY-SA 4.0; laboratory tubes by Frankincense Diala, CC0, both via Wikimedia Commons.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get an STI test in Warsaw without insurance or documents?
Yes. The PKD consultation and diagnostic points funded by the National AIDS Centre offer free, anonymous testing for HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis. No referral, insurance status or identity documents are required.
Where are the free STI testing points in Warsaw?
As of October 2026: Chmielna 4 in the centre, open weekdays 9:30 to 19:30; Świętokrzyska 30, open Tuesday evening and Wednesday; and Nugat 3 on Ursynów, open weekday evenings. The Jagiellońska 34 point is suspended.
Is STI testing available in English in Warsaw?
Yes. The National AIDS Centre list notes English-speaking counsellors at Chmielna 4, which also offers Spanish, and English and Russian at Świętokrzyska 30 and Nugat 3, which also has a Ukrainian-speaking nurse.
How fast are PKD test results?
It depends on the test. Rapid tests can give results in 15 to 30 minutes at points that offer them, while laboratory HIV tests take until the next duty day; at Chmielna 4, blood taken before 14:00 can return results the same day.
