Fitzpatrick, Megan B.
El-Khatib, Ziad
Katzenstein, David
Pinsky, Benjamin A.
Chirenje, Zvavahera Mike
McCarty, Kathy
Article History
First Online: 29 May 2019
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: Ethical approval was granted by Stanford University (#37975), University of Zimbabwe (JREC 221/16), the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe (MRCZ/A/2128), and the Research Council of Zimbabwe (No. 02921). In addition, the Provincial and District Medical Officers were notified, as well as headmen and villages during community meetings, after sensitization via training of community health workers prior to data collection. Women were informed that their participation was voluntary, they could withdraw at any time, that we would offer to test for HIV but they could refuse this testing or refuse to be notified of their result, and that all information regarding their HIV and HPV status would be kept confidential. Most women wanted to know their HIV and HPV results. Eligible women were interviewed verbally by trained research data collectors on the research team using an electronic questionnaire to collect information on sociodemographic and reproductive information. Inclusion took place after individual informed consent signed electronically or with a thumbprint on a paper copy if illiterate, and an additional paper copy was given to the participation. Informed consent (signature or witnessed thumbprint) was obtained from all participants prior to enrolment.
: All personal information was de-identified, and therefore additional consent for publication is not applicable.
: The authors declare they have no competing interests.
: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.