Highly commended
HPV, Proof of Love!
Summary of work
Romania has the highest cervical cancer burden in the EU, with most cases caused by preventable HPV infections. Yet despite the relaunch of the National HPV Vaccination Program in 2020, uptake remained critically low. By 2023, only 1.4% of eligible Romanians had initiated vaccination, largely due to safety concerns, misinformation, and lingering mistrust.
In 2024, MSD set out to change this reality. The campaign reframed HPV vaccination through a deeply human lens: a powerful act of protection and a Proof of Love—for children, partners and oneself.
Using a strategic mix of online video and radio, the campaign delivered 33.5 million video views and reached 1.8 million radio listeners, while driving 725,000 visits to the national HPV education platform. Messaging was tailored to parents, young women and adult women, addressing both emotional motivations and information gaps.
But the true impact was behavioural. In just one year, 95,000 people initiated HPV vaccination—three times the previous annual rate. Nearly half were adult women, while 26% were male, signalling a major cultural shift in a vaccine traditionally perceived as “only for girls”.
In Romania, without policy changes or new incentives, protection became a Proof of Love—and vaccination finally began to rise.
Judges’ comments
The ‘HPV, Proof of Love!’ entry was bold, memorable and clever, and it had a big impact on the judges. It was authentic and compelling and it went above and beyond, with a highly effective behavioural strategy. It had a passionate voice and was a very clever way to reframe vaccination. It was a real outcome to be proud of, with an increase in vaccination rates that was really impressive.
