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Article History

Received: 18 February 2023

Accepted: 2 January 2024

First Online: 17 January 2024

Declarations

:

: Approval to conduct the study was granted by the: Cure Children’s Hospital Research and Ethics Committee. Ethical approval number, REC REF No. CCHU-REC/04/020; Date of approval– 3/1/21; Administrative clearance was granted by the Cure Children’s Hospital in Uganda (CCHU). The nurses and staff at CCHU were introduced to the study and its procedures and were requested to identify, mobilise and link willing participants with the research team. Participants received verbal and written information detailing the purpose and process of the study. In this study, all the mothers to the children under 5 years provided written informed consent confirming their voluntary participation as well as that of their children. According to the Ugandan law, all individuals below the age of 18 years that are independently making their own decisions, having their own children and running their own families are regarded as emancipated minors. In Uganda, an emancipated minor can fully consent on his or her own without requiring parental consent. In this study all mothers that were under the age of 18 were regarded as emancipated minors [CitationRef removed]. Those that declined participation were neither penalized nor denied standard health care. Confidentiality and privacy of all data collected was observed during the course of the study through restricted access. All methods in this study were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. The procedures described in this manuscript have been carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.