Background: Viral hepatitis is a global public health problem that affects millions of people every year, causing disability and death. In Saudi Arabia, HBV and HCV are major causes of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver diseases requiring liver transplantation, causing an increase in the need for considerable healthcare resources . University students are also susceptible to acquire this infection. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among 197 undergraduate students of Albaha University during July-August 2016, aimed to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice using a standardized questionnaire. Results: almost all of the participants (n=192; 97.5%) had heard of viral hepatitis and the main source of this information were school/college (n=126; 64.0%), students of Faculty of Medicine show an excellent overall knowledge about hepatitis B & C in all variables. the overall knowledge of preventive measures to Hepatitis B and C virus infection was moderately low. 52.3% of our respondents were willing to be screened for hepatitis infection, and the same number (52.8 % and 50.3%) agreed that at risk people should be vaccinated and blood transfused must be screened for hepatitis respectively. A significant relationship was found between students who study at Faculty of medicine had a history of training on universal precautions and knowledge about post needle stick injury (P< 0.01). Conclusions: The students of both, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Medical Science had a satisfactory knowledge on the nature of viral hepatitis, the causative agents, and they were aware of route of transmission but misconception of the preventive measures. Intensive health educational programs are required and included in the curriculum of the faculties.
