Table 1. Differences between the models.

	4-stage DM (synthetic epidemics)	1-stage DM	Complex MOT (cMOT)	Generic MOT (gMOT)
Input parameters	Calibrated	Same as 4-stage DM, except for HIV infectivity	Same as 1-stage DM	Same as 1-stage DM
Biological structure
Differential HIV infectivity by stage of HIV	Yes	No	No	No
STI co-factor increases HIV susceptibility per sex-act	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
STI co-factor increases HIV infectivity per sex-act	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Condom-use reduces HIV transmission	Fraction of partnerships where condoms are used	Same as 4-stage DM	Same as 4-stage DM	Fraction of sex acts protected
Sexual structure
Multiple HIV exposures	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Turn-over between risk-groups	Yes	Yes	No	No
Subgroup size	See Table 2	Same as 4-stage DM	Same as 4-stage DM	Aggregate the two MP classes
Subgroup sexual behaviours	See Table 2	Same as 4-stage DM	Same as 4-stage DM	Weighted average of the two types of commercial partnerships, and two MP groups
Secondary, or indirect transmission events	Yes	Yes	No	No
Can the model provide the following information?
The distribution of new HIV infections acquired by different subgroups (MOT metric)?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
What is the fraction of new HIV infections transmitted from a given subgroup?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Estimate contribution of specific partnerships/risk-groups to overall transmission in the total population, over t years?	PAFt	PAFt	No	No

DM (dynamical model). MOT (Modes of Transmission model). PAF_t (population attributable fraction over t years) reflects the contribution of each type of partnership to overall transmission. MP (multiple partnership). STI (sexually transmitted infection; in this study, only HSV-2 is considered).