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Article History

Received: 22 August 2018

Accepted: 27 February 2019

First Online: 15 March 2019

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: Ethics approval was obtained from all participating centers and appropriate regulatory bodies in each country as reported elsewhere []: Ethics Committee, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt; Research Ethics Committee, Cairo University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt; Ethics Committee for Health Care Research, Menoufiya University, Menoufiya, Egypt; Research Ethics Committee, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt; Ghana Health Service Ethical Review Committee, Ghana Health Service, Accra, Ghana; Ethics Review Committee, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya; Health Research Ethics Committee, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria; Health Research Ethics Committee, National Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria; Research Ethics Committee, Ministry of Health, Calabar, Nigeria; Health Research Ethics Committee, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria; Ethics Committee, Saudi Hypertension Management Society, Saudi Arabia; Pharma-Ethics, Lyttleton Manor, South Africa; Institutional Review Board, Amman, Jordan; Joint Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research, Kuwait; Commission d’ethique, CHU Notre Dame De Secours, Jbeil, Lebanon; Ethics Committee, Notre Dame du Liban Hospital, Lebanon; Ethics Committee, Monla Hospital, Tripoli, Lebanon; Ethics Committee, Najar Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon; Ethics and Research Committee, Mafraq Hospital, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Al Ain Medical District Human Research Ethics Committee, Al Ain, UAE; Medical Research Committee, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, UAE; Research Ethics Committee, Al Qassimi Hospital, Sharjah, UAE; Unité Des Essais Cliniques, Direction de la Pharmacie, Ministère De La Santé De La Population et De La Réforme Hospitalière, République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire; National Ethics Committee, Cameroon; Comité National d’Ethique pour la Recherche en Santé, République Du Sénégal; Le Comité d’Ethique et de Recherche, Farhat Hached Hôpital Universitaire, Sousse, Ministere De La Sante Publique, République Tunisienne.

: Not applicable.

: Omar Hamoui is a member of advisory boards, and has received speaking honoraria, from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Servier, Eli Lilly, Takeda, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, and Menirini. Mohamed I. Omar was a full-time employee of Pfizer when this study was conducted. Frederick J. Raal has received research grants, honoraria, or consulting fees for professional input and/or delivered lectures from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi, Regeneron, and Amgen. Wafa Rashed declares no conflict of interest. Abdoul Kane has received research, honoraria, or consulting fees for professional input and/or delivered lectures from Servier, Pfizer, Merck, and Sanofi. Mohamed Alami declares no conflict of interest. Paula Abreu and Walid M. Mashhoud are full-time employees of Pfizer. Alawi A. Alsheikh-Ali declares no conflict of interest.

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