A cross-sectional survey was carried out from June to September 2005 at Muhimbili University College of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) at the University of Dar-es-Salaam. The target population consisted of students attending the faculties of dentistry and medicine. A total of 1,021 (862 medical and 159 dental) students were enrolled at the college in 2005. Six hundred students (100 students in each study year) attending the 1 st to the 5 th study year were invited to participate. A total of 476 students agreed to participate and 454 students (response rate 75.6%), mean age 25.6 (sd 2.6), 22.5% females completed supervised self-administered structured questionnaires at the faculty in class-room settings.