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Article History

Received: 7 July 2024

Accepted: 8 January 2025

First Online: 16 January 2025

Declarations

:

: Permission to use the BAIS V dataset was sought through the Statistics Botswana website [].The surveys also anonymized all data before making it publicly available. All BAIS V survey protocols, consent forms, screening forms, referral forms, recruitment materials and questionnaires were reviewed and approved by in-country ethics and regulatory bodies, including the Health Research and Development Committee (HRDC) of Botswana, and the institutional review boards of CDC, and UMB. A designated head of household provided verbal consent for the household interview, after which individual household members were rostered. Once the household interview was completed, eligible adults and emancipated minors could then provide verbal consent for an interview and for participation in the biomarker component of the survey, including home-based testing and counselling, with return of HIV-testing results during the household visit. Participants had to consent to receipt of their test results to participate in the biomarker component of the survey; if an individual did not want to receive his or her HIV test result, this was considered a biomarker component refusal. The interviewer also asked participants for verbal consent to store their blood samples in a repository to perform additional tests in the future, and for verbal consent to be contacted for future research. Further details on the conduct of the study can be found in the 2021 BAIS V report [] and also more details about the data and ethical standards are available at . Further, the authors would like to confirm that all methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations in the Helsinki declaration.

: Not Applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: Not applicable.