HPV Awareness
9 March 2023
Saturday 4 March was International HPV Awareness Day, raising awareness of the Human Papillomavirus - which can lead to certain types of cancer.
UKHSA supported International HPV Awareness Day through posts from the national @UKHSA Twitter account and regional accounts. However, we put out messaging throughout the year, to support the HPV vaccine programme.
The vaccine works best if young people get immunised before they come into contact with HPV, which is generally before they become sexually active.
Immunisation programmes were disrupted by the pandemic, and the most recent figures for HPV vaccine uptake (from December 2022) show that coverage is still lower than before COVID-19, despite the vaccine programme being available as normal.
Please do continue to promote the HPV vaccine, to help increase uptake by those young people who may have missed theirs due to the pandemic.