Sandie, Sorelle Mekachie http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3396-0983
Sumbele, Irene Ule Ngole
Tasah, Martin Mih
Kimbi, Helen Kuokuo
Article History
Received: 18 February 2019
Accepted: 11 November 2019
First Online: 21 November 2019
Ethics approval and consent to participants
: Prior to the start of the study, an administrative clearance was obtained from the South West Regional Delegation of Public Health, Buea, followed by an ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Board hosted by the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Buea (2014-07-0293/UB/FHS/IRB). Inform consent and assent forms were given and explained to the adult participants and parents/guardians of children (≤16 years) at presentation. All participants were informed about the objective and benefits of the study. The amount of blood to be collected from each participant was clearly stated on the consent/assent forms. Only participants who gave written consent or assent for children took part in the study. Pre- and post-HIV counselling was done by competent personnel. All test procedures were done free of charge with confidentiality maintained. Participants could ask questions and their decisions not to participate in the study were fully respected and this did not affect the services provided to them in any way. They were also free to withdraw from the study at any time that they wished. All information collected from the field remained strictly confidential.
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.