Issues Related to Men Participation Towards Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) After The Merapi Eruption 2010 in Indonesia

Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) issues often get less priority than other aspects of humanitarian health response in emergencies and disasters. We aimed to explore the men’s perceptions of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), men’s involvement, and barriers to STIs prevention among men in the affected area by Merapi eruption 2010.

The study used qualitative content analysis. Data were collected through face-to-face in-depth interviews with 2 participants living with STIs and focus on group discussions with 22 participants who witnessed Merapi eruption 2010 from December 2016 to March 2017 in Sleman District, the Special Region of Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia, including academicians, community leaders and community health workers.

Participants from the disaster site were mostly senior high school graduates aged between 33 and 46 years. Four themes developed from fourteen categories that represented the men’s perceptions of STIs, men’s involvement, and barriers to the STIs prevention among men in the affected area by Merapi eruption 2010, were revealed from the investigation.

Low participation of men in STIs prevention has led to poor SRH outcomes among women. Nurses have a main role in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) to enhance the awareness and understanding of people in preparedness for future disasters. Thus, it is necessary for nurses and other health professionals involved in DRR to optimize coordination with community leaders, community health volunteers (health cadres), and other stakeholders to prevent the transmission of communicable diseases in the community.