Publish date: 13 February 2026
A campaign run by West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance, together with several partners, has succeeded in increasing vaccine take-up amongst groups of men who have sex with men (MSM).
The ‘Small Act, Big Impact’ campaign focused on men aged under 45 who have sex with men as they are at higher risk from the human papilloma virus (HPV) and certain types of cancer.
It aimed to increase awareness within the LGBTQ+ community of the HPV vaccination and services available.
The campaign directly increased HPV vaccination rates amongst MSM under 45 group with rates increased by 62%.
The vaccinations were delivered to the MSM and trans communities by partners MESMAC and Locala, some of them being delivered during Pride events in West Yorkshire.
The campaign, which ran across TikTok, LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) as well as out of home advertising (billboards) was viewed 1.75 million times.
Almost 14,000 people clicked through to the website of the Cancer Alliance’s partner charity OUTpatients, educating many people across West Yorkshire.
Key results include:
- Over 500,000 people viewed the advert from Meta platforms
- 1.1m views from the Grindr dating app
HPV is a common virus that is spread through skin contact – usually through any form of sexual touching. Most types of HPV are harmless, but some types are linked to an increased risk of certain types of cancer, including cervical cancer; mouth cancer; anal cancer; penile cancer; vulval cancer and vaginal cancer. HPV can also cause genital warts.
Benefits of the vaccine include:
- Prevention of HPV-related cancers
- Reduction in genital warts
- Herd immunity (reducing overall circulation rates of HPV in the community)
- Prevention of transmission
- Protection against recurrent respiratory papillomatosis
In turn, this also supports:
- Raising awareness of signs and symptoms of HPV related cancers, encouraging people to seek advice from their GP
- Supporting the NHS England ambition to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040
- Supporting the NHS England Long Term Plan goal to diagnose 75% of cancers at an early stage by 2028
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