About the Authors

Simopekka Vänskä

simopekka.vanska@thl.fi

Affiliations Department of Vaccination and Immune Protection, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland, School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

Kari Auranen

Affiliation Department of Vaccination and Immune Protection, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland

Tuija Leino

Affiliation Department of Vaccination and Immune Protection, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland

Heini Salo

Affiliation Department of Vaccination and Immune Protection, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland

Pekka Nieminen

Affiliation Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

Terhi Kilpi

Affiliation Department of Vaccination and Immune Protection, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland

Petri Tiihonen

Affiliation Department of Vaccination and Immune Protection, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland

Dan Apter

Affiliation Sexual Health Clinic, Family Federation of Finland, Helsinki, Finland

Matti Lehtinen

Affiliation School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

Competing Interests

The authors have read the journal’s policy and have the following conflicts: ML has received grants for his HPV vaccination studies through his employer University of Tampere, Finland from Merck & Co., Inc. and GSK Biologicals; PN has been working as a consultant for GSK and Sanofi Pasteur-MSD, TK Nationwide effectiveness study of the 10-valtent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Collaborative study was mainly funded by GSK; DA, as an employee of Väestöliitto, participated as the principal investigator in research projects of Merck and GSK during the last 5 years. Väestöliitto has been paid for conducting the research. He has given lectures at educational occasions organized by health care and medical companies and participated in various meetings paid by these (Merck, GSK, Bayer, WHO). Membership in the National Expert Group (2008–2011) on HPV Related Disease Prevention: TL HS PN TK DA ML. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all of the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Wrote the paper: SV. Implemented the model: SV. Supervised the modelling: KA. Designed the mathematical model: SV KA HS PT. Brought substance expertise to the model design and outcome interpretation: ML PN TL TK DA. Established and/or structured the hrHPV prevalence data: ML HS PT. Edited the manuscript: KA ML TL. Commented on and reviewed the manuscript: SV KA TL HS PN TK PT DA ML.