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Article History

Received: 28 April 2021

Accepted: 21 March 2022

First Online: 4 April 2022

Declarations

:

: Ethical clearance was sought from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Gondar. Ethical clearance with the protocol was shared with the Institutional Review Board of Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Support letters to access the medical records were obtained from the Addis Ababa Health Bureau. Nurses and data clerks working at the study sites were used for data abstraction after signing the confidentiality agreement. No external persons accessed the patient’s folder, and no patient identifier was included in our data set. Each patient folder that was taken from the HMIS room for data abstraction was kept in a locked file cabinet until it was returned to the HMIS room to maintain participant confidentiality. The analysis used routinely collected patient data for program monitoring and evaluation purposes, and there was no direct contact with patients. As this was a retrospective study, the need for informed consent was waived by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Gondar. We confirm that all methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.