Document is current

Article History

Received: 20 March 2025

Accepted: 3 March 2026

First Online: 9 March 2026

Declarations

:

: Ethical approval for the study has been obtained from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School Research Governance and Ethics Committee (BSMS RGEC) in the UK (Stage 1 ref: ER/BSMS9D79/6; Stage 2 ref: ER/BSMS9D79/7) and the Institutional Review Board of the College of Health Sciences at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia (013/23/CDT). All participants, who must be over 18 years of age, will be provided with a participant information sheet. Those who choose not to participate will be excluded from the study. Participants retain the right to withdraw from the study at any time until data have been aggregated without providing a reason or facing any negative consequences, including those related to their care, treatment, or employment.

: A publication plan has been developed outlining the dissemination of study findings through various channels. The plan encompasses the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals.Maintaining the confidentiality and anonymity of participant data is paramount throughout the study, encompassing data collection, storage, analysis, and publication. Multi-layered safeguards will be meticulously implemented to protect the sensitive nature of the information collected and preserve the anonymity of participants. Personal identifiers will be utilized in-stead of names, and identifying data will be securely stored separately from the correspond-ing codes used on the data collection sheets and databases. Only pseudonymised data will be subjected to data analyses. All data will be securely stored in a restricted OneDrive folder, accessible solely to authorized members of the research team. The study participants will be asked to give their consent for the publication of the findings.

: The authors declare no competing interests.