HPV Vaccine

Happy 20th Birthday, HPV Vaccine: A Love Letter on International HPV Awareness Day 2026

By Sara Lyle-Ingersoll, Cervivor Communications Director

Happy 20th birthday, HPV vaccine!

Two decades is a big deal. Cervivor marked the same milestone last year, so we know a bit about what 20 years of impact feels like.

We still remember the excitement in 2006 when the first HPV vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The news made the cover of Time magazine and the front page of The New York Times. But it wasn’t just another medical headline — it was a major scientific breakthrough. The idea that we could prevent cervical cancer before it ever started felt revolutionary. The hope was palpable.

Which makes today, International HPV Awareness Day — part of the International Papillomavirus Society‘s (IPVS) annual campaign to promote HPV prevention, screening, and care — a fitting moment to say happy birthday, thank you, and keep up the good work. Consider this our love letter to you, HPV vaccine. 

Why We Love You

Let’s start with the obvious: You prevent cancer.

Not symptoms. Not severity. Cancer. 

HPV is incredibly common — about 80% of people will be infected at some point in their lives. Most infections clear on their own, but some persist and can lead to cancer. Globally, HPV causes nearly all cervical cancers and contributes to cancers of the anus, oropharynx (throat), vulva, vagina, and penis. Together, HPV-related cancers account for more than 720,000 new cancer cases and roughly 350,000 deaths worldwide each year. 

When you were first approved in 2006, you protected against four HPV types, including types 16 and 18, which cause the majority of cervical cancers. Today’s version protects against nine HPV types: seven responsible for about 90% of cervical cancers, plus two that cause most genital warts. That’s pretty badass. Pardon our language.

Because prevention works best before infection occurs, vaccination is recommended between age 11 and 12, and can be given as early as 9. In this video for HPV Day 2026, IPVS envisions a world free from the cancer-causing virus — made possible in large part by you. 

Your Track Record Speaks for Itself

More than half a billion doses of the HPV vaccine have been given out worldwide, and decades of safety monitoring across multiple countries continue to confirm that you are safe. 

Any side effects are typically mild and temporary, and serious reactions are rare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and numerous independent reviews consistently affirm your safety.

And are you effective? Heck, yes! The data is just as strong. 

Countries with high vaccination coverage — think Australia, Rwanda, Sweden — have documented dramatic declines in HPV infections, genital warts, and high-grade cervical precancers among young people. 

This is no longer about projections or promises. The receipts are in. Here are just a few: 

  • A landmark 2020 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that Swedish girls vaccinated before age 17 had an 88% lower risk of cervical cancer compared to unvaccinated peers. 
  • In the U.K., research published in The Lancet in 2021 showed nearly a 90% reduction in cervical cancer among women vaccinated between 12 and 13.
  • In the U.S., a 2025 CDC analysis of 2008–2022 data found that cervical precancers among women 20 to 24 — the first generation routinely vaccinated — declined by roughly 80%.

That’s measurable progress and lives saved. Wow, just wow. 

U.S. rates of moderate to severe cervical precancers (CIN2+ and CIN3+) declined sharply from 2008 to 2022 among women 20 to 24 — the first generation routinely vaccinated against HPV. 

We Know It Hasn’t Always Been Easy

From the beginning, you carried more than a syringe and a schedule. You carried stigma — something anyone affected by a below-the-belt cancer understands all too well.

Because HPV is transmitted through intimate contact, conversations about the vaccine have often been wrapped up in discomfort, misinformation, and politics. Some struggle discussing a sexually transmitted virus with preteens. Others falsely claim you’re a “permission slip” for promiscuity. 

At the recent 2026 Cervical Cancer Summit — while unpacking your complicated history — Chief Medical Officer of the Association of Immunization Managers Michelle Fiscus, MD, FAAP, shared an old cartoon poking fun at the promiscuity myth. It showed a young girl receiving the HPV vaccine and saying, “I am so turned on right now.” The joke landed because the premise was so absurd.

A vaccine does not change a child’s values or lifestyle choices. It reduces their risk of cancer. Full stop.

At the 2026 Summit, Association of Immunization Managers CMO Michelle Fiscus emphasized that “misinformation remains one of our biggest barriers,” calling the promiscuity myth “farcical.”

In Case You Need to Hear This

Progress hasn’t been perfect — but that’s not on you. 

Vaccination rates vary widely by region and community. In the U.S., HPV vaccination coverage among adolescents continues to improve, but it still trails other routine adolescent vaccines like Tdap and meningococcal, according to the CDC. Research shows that a strong provider recommendation is one of the biggest factors in increasing HPV vaccination.

Globally, cervical cancer disproportionately affects women in low- and middle-income countries, where access to both vaccination and screening can be limited. The WHO’s strategy to eliminate the disease as a public health problem calls for 90% of girls to be fully vaccinated against HPV by age 15.

It’s simple math: The more people who receive you, the more lives will be saved from HPV-related cancers — which is why we’re your hype girl today and every day. 

For HPV Day, the IPVS shares a message of unity. 

Keep On Keeping On!

HPV vaccine, you have given us a tool that previous generations couldn’t even dream of. 

Twenty years ago, approving the first HPV vaccine was an act of scientific courage and public health ambition. Today, the challenge is simpler — and harder. We have to use it.

Reflecting on the momentum of the first National HPV Conference last April, Cervivor Founder and Chief Visionary Tamika Felder said, “Knowledge is power, but this is just the start. Preventable cancers like cervical cancer are on the rise because of complacency, stigma, and misinformation. The time to prevent suffering — and save lives from cervical and other HPV-related cancers — is now.”

Your moment is now. 

Happy 20th birthday to a vaccine that prevents cancer.

Here’s to a future when a cervical cancer diagnosis or, worse, a death is ancient history. 

P.S. Congratulations to the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program on five years of saving lives by increasing HPV vaccination rates! We couldn’t be prouder to call you a partner.

About the Author

SARA LYLE-INGERSOLL is a content and communications expert dedicated to transforming lived experiences into impactful stories. Her award-winning magazine feature about a close friend who passed from cervical cancer in their twenties led her to connect with Cervivor’s founder, Tamika Felder, and solidified her commitment to cervical cancer awareness and prevention. Now, as Cervivor’s Communications Director, Sara brings this mission full circle.

Latina Cervivor Stories: Changing the Narrative about Cervical Cancer in Hispanic Communities This Hispanic Heritage Month

By Kyle Minnis, Cervivor Communications Assistant

Each year, Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) honors the contributions and resilience of the more than 65 million Hispanic Americans who shape our nation’s culture, economy, and communities. It’s also an important opportunity to highlight persistent health disparities—particularly in cervical cancer prevention and treatment, which disproportionately affects Latina women.

Composite image of three Latina cervical cancer survivors with teal text: "LATINA SURVIVORS CHANGING THE NARRATIVE ON CERVICAL CANCER." The image highlights representation and advocacy for cervical cancer in Hispanic communities.

Latinas are 43% more likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer than non-Hispanic white women, and their risk of dying from it is 25 to 50% higher, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). They receive significantly fewer Pap tests and are less likely to follow up on abnormal results, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Barriers to care include stigma and silence around “below-the-belt” cancers, language differences, insurance gaps, transportation challenges, and inflexible work schedules, all of which delay diagnosis and limit access to lifesaving interventions.

Patient navigators like Nancy Peña—Founder and Director of Navegación de Pacientes Internacional (NPI), which trains Spanish-speaking clinical advocates across the U.S. and Latin America—champion bilingual education and culturally competent care, explaining, “Native-language navigation improves informed consent, adherence, and satisfaction; reduces errors and no-shows; and honors dignity.”

Bilingual clinical patient navigator Nancy Peña spoke to attendees at the 2024 Cervical Cancer Summit.

HPV vaccine uptake among Hispanic youth and young adults also remains low. While 63% of U.S. adolescents ages 13 to 17 are up to date on the full series, Hispanic adults ages 18 to 26 lag behind: According to the latest National Health Interview Survey, only 36% had received at least one dose, and just 21.5% had completed the full series—far below the national goal of 80% two-dose completion by age 15.

As Cervivor has reported, in many traditional households—Hispanic or otherwise—the vaccine is still seen to promote promiscuity. “It’s so important to speak openly with our children about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine,” says cervical cancer survivor Maritza Manjarrez, a Cervivor Español member who was raised in a Mexican family. “Vaccinating our youth doesn’t mean we’re giving them permission to have sex—it means we’re protecting them from a cancer that can develop later in life.”

Cervivor’s mission is to help eliminate cervical cancer while also lifting survivors from isolation, providing community and education, and empowering those affected to become advocates. This Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate our Latina community members—including Maritza, Dulcely Tavarez, Yvette Torres, and many more—by amplifying their stories and strength. Their voices demonstrate what it means to live beyond cervical cancer while advocating for health equity and compassion.

Maritza Manjarrez: Breaking the Silence

Maritza recently graduated from Cervivor School 2025.

“My cervical cancer journey has been especially difficult as a Latina. The stigma surrounding HPV and cervical cancer in our community has played a huge role in that,” says Maritza, who was diagnosed with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma at age 34. “Growing up Mexican meant you didn’t talk openly about topics like this. Keeping what was considered ‘private information’ to myself made it very hard to find help, support groups, or even basic information.”

That silence meant it took Maritza years to find Cervivor and feel comfortable sharing her story. “When asked what type of cancer I had, I felt a sense of shame and embarrassment to answer cervical cancer,” she recalls. “I believe this stigma plays a big role in the statistics. It makes me sad and worried, because if we don’t increase advocacy, these numbers are not going to change. Too many of our women are dying from this preventable disease.”

Dulcely Tavarez: Shattered Dreams, Renewed Fire

Dulcely Tavarez

Dulcely describes being in her early twenties, putting her own health last while caring for others, a struggle familiar to many Latinas. In April 2015, she finally saw a doctor about her irregular menstrual cycles, but was bounced between providers before receiving a cervical cancer diagnosis. “‘Later’ almost cost me everything. By the time I was diagnosed, the treatment I needed was life-saving but meant I could never carry a child.”

Dulcely’s family surrounded her with care and love, but it sometimes intensified her grief and isolation. “In our community, family and children are seen as such a natural part of life that it’s hard to explain the emptiness when that dream is taken away. Even when they were trying to comfort me, sometimes I felt alone in those emotions.”

She found healing in Cervivor. “When I looked for stories that reflected my own—young, Latina, facing cancer and fertility loss—I couldn’t find them. And that loneliness can be crushing. We need to see ourselves in these campaigns, in our own language, in ways that reflect our values and struggles. Representation is not just about visibility—it’s about saving lives and healing hearts.”

Thanks to her involvement with Cervivor, Dulcely became the first-ever recipient of the Cervivor Baby Gift Fund at this January’s 2025 Cervical Cancer Summit. The award supports cervical cancer survivors pursuing alternative paths to motherhood and accepts donations from $10 to $50,000.

Dulcely gets a hug—after receiving the first-ever Cervivor Baby Gift Fund—from Cervivor Founder and Chief Visionary Tamika Felder at the 2025 Cervical Cancer Summit.

Yvette Torres: From Shame to Advocacy

Yvette Torres

Yvette’s cancer journey began with an unsympathetic, unprofessional diagnosis. “The doctor asked, ‘Why did I wait so long?’ Still in shock, I did not answer that callous question,” she recalls. At 42, she and her husband had been hoping for another child so their youngest son could have a closer-in-age sibling—but that hope ended with a biopsy, performed on her son’s 4th birthday, that confirmed cervical cancer in 2013. She remembers the OB/GYN telling her it “didn’t look good,” that it was most likely cancer, and later saying it was a “good thing I already had two children,” since treatment would likely take away her chance to have more.

This cold medical treatment reinforced how stigma and cultural silence can delay women from seeking care. Yvette shares, “I hid. I felt ashamed. I didn’t want to talk about it because that’s what I learned growing up—we didn’t talk about below-the-belt issues. My mother did teach me the importance of going to the gynecologist. However, I did not feel comfortable talking about details, differences, or changes in my body.” Her experience echoes what many Cervivor Español members describe: how misconceptions about HPV, reluctance to discuss gynecologic cancers, and language barriers all contribute to lower screening and vaccination rates.

For Yvette, community was the turning point. “I found Cervivor during COVID, when isolation made everything feel even worse.” Through Cervivor Español, she gained the confidence to speak out in Spanish, even though she hadn’t grown up fluent, and now distributes bilingual prevention materials. “Now, I celebrate and embrace my Black and Hispanic identity by advocating for these communities and helping women not feel ashamed by sharing my story,” says Yvette, a 2023 Cervivor Champion and recent top Tell 20, Give 20 fundraiser, who also mobilized her students through a school workplace drive to spread awareness.

Yvette at work, where her story inspired colleagues to donate thousands to Cervivor’s Tell 20, Give 20 campaign.
Dulcely at last year’s Communities of Color Patient Advocacy Retreat, where she did outreach through Cervivor Cares.

Join the Movement to End Cervical Cancer Disparities in Hispanic Communities

Latinas make up 20% of the U.S. population, and their stories of surviving cancer, overcoming setbacks, and celebrating successes deserve to be heard—not just during Hispanic Heritage Month. Whether navigating care in a new language, confronting cultural silence around cancer, or redefining family and identity after treatment, Latina Cervivors show that community and compassion can transform what’s possible.

To help reduce cervical cancer diagnoses and improve outcomes for Hispanic individuals with a cervix, take action today by:

  • Sharing your Cervivor Story to put a face on a cancer that is too often hidden or hushed.

  • Supporting Cervivor’s 20th-year Tell 20, Give 20 campaign to fund culturally relevant programming and Cervivor Español support group (and sign up for next month’s event).

  • Advocating for bilingual programs—like Nancy Peña’s NPI patient navigators—that help create more equitable care pathways.

  • Championing advocacy groups such as the ACSí Se Puede Hispanic/Latino Advocacy Alliance, which amplify voices and expand access for Spanish-speaking communities.

  • Using your voice. If you speak Spanish—whether fluently or conversationally—you can support those facing language barriers. Talk with them about the life-saving benefits of HPV vaccination, regular screenings, and timely follow-ups.

Lastly, honor the voices of Maritza, Dulcely, and Yvette—and so many others—by making this Hispanic Heritage Month a catalyst for lasting change. As Dulcely reminds us:

“Please don’t wait. Don’t push your health to the bottom of the list the way I did… To the mothers—protect your children with the HPV vaccine. It’s an act of love. To my fellow women—know your worth, use your voice, and never stop fighting for answers.”

If you found this blog post helpful, please share it with friends or family members. You may just save a life. Questions? Contact us at [email protected].

About the Author

The image is a portrait of a young man with dark skin and short, curly black hair. He is wearing a blue collared shirt and black-framed glasses, and is smiling at the camera. The man has dark skin and short, curly black hair. His hair is cut close to his head, with a slight fade at the sides. His eyebrows are thick and well-groomed. He is wearing a blue collared shirt. The shirt is a medium blue color and appears to be made of a lightweight material. It has a relaxed fit and is buttoned up to the top. He is also wearing black-framed glasses. The frames are rectangular in shape and have a subtle curve at the temples. The lenses are clear and do not appear to have any tint or coating. The man is smiling at the camera. His smile is wide and genuine, showing off his white teeth. His eyes are crinkled at the corners, giving him a friendly and approachable appearance. The background of the image is a plain gray color. The gray is a medium tone, neither too light nor too dark. It provides a neutral backdrop that allows the subject to stand out. Overall, the image presents a friendly and approachable young man who appears to be confident and comfortable in front of the camera

Kyle Minnis is a senior studying Strategic Communications at the University of Kansas. He is currently serving as Cervivor’s Communications Assistant.