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The testing is one of the measures that Tijuana has taken to regulate prostitution, which has flourished here for decades. The city council passed a law in June that requires the town’s active prostitutes – 5,000 are currently being tested each month – to have monthly medical exams for sexually transmitted diseases and forces brothel owners to adopt more sanitary practices. Those who do not face stiff fines and the loss of their business licenses. One measure of the magnitude of the problem health officials face is that more than 8,000 women and men who have registered as prostitutes since the system began have stopped coming to the city clinic, Dr. Mayor Noriega said. It is unclear how many left the business and how many simply decided not to pay for the tests any more