Resource

Brief

COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among young people in Port Said and Souhag, Egypt: A gender perspective

This brief presents results from a COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey conducted by the Evidence Project/Population Council among 241 young men and women aged 18–34 in Egypt who had been receiving COVID-19 information via WhatsApp. Results showed that knowledge of some behaviors that could prevent COVID-19 transmission was high among both young men and young women, while knowledge of transmission modes was fairly low among both genders. There were differences by gender in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to COVID-19 – for example, young women correctly named an average of 5.7 COVID-19 symptoms out of 13, while young men reported an average of 4.9 symptoms. More young men than young women perceived themselves to be at risk of COVID-19 infection, and more young women than men reported that they had changed their behaviors to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection since the onset of the pandemic. The brief provides recommendations for programmers and policy makers when considering how to reach young men and women with COVID-19 information.