A PRIMARY HEALTH-CARE SERVICE FOR GLASGOW STREET SEX WORKERS - 6 YEARS EXPERIENCE OF THE DROP-IN CENTER, 1989-1994

In Glasgow, a health and social care centre opened in 1988 principally to facilitate HN prevention among street prostitutes, most of whom ar e injecting drug users. During 1992 to 1994, 551 women made 17,554 vis its to the medical room which is functional 5 nights per week. The mea n age of the sex workers was 26 years (range 15 to 62) and 89% injecte d drugs. Fifty-five per cent of the attendances were for needle/syring e exchange only whilst the remainder involved other health care provis ion. Common presenting problems included abscesses, bums and venous th romboses, reflecting the high proportion of sex workers who injected d rugs. Most women always used condoms for penetrative commercial sex an d symptomatic sexually transmitted disease was seen infrequently. In a ddition to the provision of injecting equipment and condoms, other key prevention activities included Hepatitis B vaccination and cervical s creening. Tbe prevalence of HN infection amongst the women remains und er 5% and most seropositives were Known to be infected before the Cent re opened. This initiative shows that if multidisciplinary health and social services are provided to street sex workers at a time and place convenient to their work, the benefits are considerable.