Awareness about the human papillomavirus(HPV) and HPV vaccine among medical students in Lebanon.

Abstract

As a developing country, Lebanon lacks adequate awareness about Human papillomavirus (HPV) among its population, whether working in the medical field or not. Lebanon is traditionally considered conservative with a low incidence of sexually transmitted infectionsin general, but recently the incidence of HPV infections has significantly increased. The present cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the level of awareness on HPV and the attitude towardHPV vaccine among Lebanese medical students in a self-administered questionnaire-based survey. A total of 1009 answers were collected and analyzed from a population of about 3000 Lebanese medical students. Our study revealed a significant lack of knowledge and awareness on HPV among medical students in Lebanon, with a strikingly low vaccination rate (16.4%) due to many barriers. Education initiatives in medical schools remain crucial to raise awareness on HPV and promote HPV vaccination, especially among medical students, who represent the country's future healthcare providers and policymakers.