Caring for sex workers

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

#### The bottom line Sex workers are adults who receive money or goods for sexual services, either regularly or occasionally,1 including female, male, and transgendered sex workers.2 3 Youths under 18 years who sell sex are sexually exploited and not included in the definition. Caring for sex workers seeking health services requires knowledge, flexibility, open mindedness, and, above all, a non-judgmental attitude. Practitioners can be directly involved in curing communicable diseases, preventing chronic conditions, and helping patients through a sometimes difficult period. Sex workers are at higher risk of many conditions (box 1), but they may also have ongoing chronic disease issues. This article provides an evidence based review (see box 2 for details of data search) of the specific health needs of sex workers, aimed at non-specialist hospital doctors, general practitioners, and candidates for postgraduate examinations globally. #### Box 1: Health issues for sex workers