About the Authors

Joseph J. Valadez

Affiliation Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Sima Berendes

berendes@liverpool.ac.uk

Affiliation Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Caroline Jeffery

Affiliation Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Joanna Thomson

Affiliation Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom

Hussain Ben Othman

Affiliation National Centre for Diseases Control, National AIDS Programme, Tripoli, Libya

Leon Danon

Affiliation Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom

Abdullah A. Turki

Affiliation Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Rabea Saffialden

Affiliation Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Lusine Mirzoyan

Affiliation Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

Dr. Hussain Ben Othman works for the Libyan National Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health, which is also responsible for the planning and implementation of the National HIV-Strategy informed by the results of this paper. The other authors have declared no competing interests exist. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: JJV LM SB. Performed the experiments: LM AAT RS. Analyzed the data: JT LD SB CJ. Wrote the paper: SB. Obtained funding: JJV. Led study preparations: LM. Negotiated the study with the Libyan government: JJV LM. Contributed to the study preparations: JJV AAT HO SB CJ. Provided technical assistance to the data collection: HO JJV SB CJ. Supported the data analysis and all authors contributed to the interpretation of results: JJV LM RS. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript, and read and approved the final manuscript: JJV SB CJ JT HO LD AAT RS LM.