[Regulation of prostitution--especially considering the work of public health offices in West Germany].

In the tradition of a dual morality in respect of the satisfaction of male desire throughout history, the prostitute is blamed for the infection and spread of sexually transmitted diseases; discriminated against by society; and criminalized by law. The institutional survey and care of prostitutes has been performed in Germany by the Public Health Offices since 1927. In the course of my work on a dissertation thesis I made an inquiry with all Public Health Offices in West Germany in 1990 to study their actual efficiency. The topics were: the work connected with prostitutes; the scope of the work; the spectrum of venereal diseases and personal opinions of the Public Health Office employees. In many cases, survey and care of prostitutes is performed incidentally and in an off-hand manner. The rate of infection with other sexually transmitted diseases is much higher than with the four classical venereal diseases. Many prostitutes are drug addicts: 50.1% of the registered prostitutes use illegal drugs or alcohol or medicaments; the rate of drug abuse is as high as the rate of infection. The very diverse working methods of the different Public Health Offices show their effects that depend on the range of clients, incidence rate of diseases of the prostitutes, and whether the groups relevant in an epidemiological context are within the reach of the Public Health Office concerned. In this report the results of the inquiry are discussed with regard to the future work of local Public Health Offices.