The National Aids Council in Papua New Guinea is adding its voice to calls for the decriminalisation of the sex trade in a bid to stem the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The director of the National Aids Council Secretariat, Dr Ninkama Moiya, says the number of sex workers in Port Moresby with the disease is growing.
"A lot of men refuse to wear condoms and we've had stories from sex workers that men are willing to pay higher prices for women who would allow them not to use condoms so that puts them at a very high risk."
Dr Moiya says that Government organisations like the Aids Council are not allowed to promote safe sex in the industry because it is illegal.
He says the council's only access to sex workers has been through peer education and non-governmental or community-based organisations.
He says a national HIV/AIDS management bill will propose the decriminalisation of prostitution in a bid to curb the spread of the disease.
