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Article History

Received: 8 December 2024

Accepted: 3 July 2025

First Online: 27 August 2025

Declarations

:

: The research study was approved by the Sangath Institutional Review Board (IRB) [protocol number: RA_2023_90]. The Sangath IRB adheres to the National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research Involving Human Participants (2017) by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). These guidelines align with the Declaration of Helsinki and include additional considerations to emphasise the cultural sensitivity and diversity in India, Community engagement in research, and Compliance with Indian legal and regulatory frameworks, such as the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and clinical trial regulations. The Sangath IRB is registered with the Department of Health Research, Government of India (Registration No. EC/NEW/INST/2022/3063) since December 2022. All procedures were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations of the IRB. Study participants provided informed consent, signed by him/herself or by a proxy, before participating in the study. Since this study was not a clinical trial, clinical trial registration was not applicable.

: As this research study does not include any identifiable participant details, informed consent for publication was not required. All data has been anonymized and analysed in a manner that participant privacy has been protected, ensuring no individual can be recognized within our study findings.

: The authors declare no competing interests.