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Article History

Received: 12 May 2026

Accepted: 26 August 2026

First Online: 8 September 2026

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Mengo Hospital Research and Ethics Committee (Ref No: MH/REC/13/01/2021). Administrative clearance to conduct the study was also obtained from the management of the participating health facilities. All participants provided written informed consent prior to participation after receiving detailed information about the study objectives, procedures, potential risks, and benefits. Participation in the study was entirely voluntary, and participants were informed of their right to decline participation or withdraw from the study at any point without any consequences for their access to TB care or other health services. To protect participants’ privacy, interviews were conducted in a confidential setting within the health facilities, and no personal identifiers were recorded in the transcripts. All audio recordings and transcripts were stored securely and accessible only to members of the research team. Unique study identification codes were used in place of participant names to ensure anonymity during transcription, analysis, and reporting. Quotations used in the manuscript were anonymized and presented without identifiable information. The study adhered to established ethical principles for research involving human participants. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant national and institutional guidelines governing research involving human participants.

Consent for publication: Not applicable.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.