Objectives: To assess the awareness and knowledge on Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) related diseases and cancers and HPV vaccine among males in an urban population.

Methods: The study was conducted in University Malaya Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur. One to one questionnaire survey was distributed to male population within UMMC premises from October to December 2016. 350 male respondents voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. The demographic details, level of education, marital status and occupation of the respondents were documented.  The awareness, knowledge of HPV related diseases and cancers were assessed. The knowledge on the availability of the HPV vaccine, the potential side effects and the willingness to take the vaccine were also assessed.

Results: 4.6% of the respondents were less than 19 year old, 86.3% were from the age of 20 to 39 year old, 8.6% from the age of 40 to 59 year old and 0.6% for more than 60 year old.  57.7% of the respondents had never heard about HPV vaccine compared to 42.3% who were aware of the availability of the vaccine.  89.9% from the group of respondent that have heard about the vaccine had received tertiary education level whereas the other 10.1% had received their secondary education level. 58.9% of married man would like to be vaccinated compared to 41.1% of single man.  61.5% of the respondents think adult men should be vaccinated. 53.4% also said that teenage boys should also be vaccinated. 48.8% of the respondents are willing to be vaccinated without knowing the side effects.

Conclusions: The awareness of HPV related diseases, its consequences and HPV vaccine among males are still low. Awareness educational program and educational leaflets for the males population should be increased as HPV infection are very common and HPV related diseases and a cancer affects both genders.

The study was approved by UMMC Ethics Committee: MREC ID NO: 201610224403