Hogan, Sam
Page, Andrew
Ogbo, Felix
Dixit, Sameer
Rajbhandari, Rajesh Man
Rawal, Bir
Deuba, Keshab
Funding for this research was provided by:
Global Fund (NA)
Article History
Received: 11 February 2020
Accepted: 25 January 2021
First Online: 2 February 2021
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: The original ethics approval granted to the IBBS projects in Nepal was given by the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC). The survey was conducted in compliance with all human rights and ethical standards required by health researchers conducting studies on human subjects.Both verbal and written informed consent was obtained from individuals before the interview process in the survey, in the presence of a witness who then signed the consent form. Verbal witnessed consent was obtained for those participants who were illiterate, with this method of consent being approved by the NHRC. The surveys did not record personal identifiers, with an aim to maintain privacy and anonymity. Participants were provided with opportunities to ask questions during the screening process to help aid their decision to participate or decline to participate. Additionally, potential participants were made aware that they were able to freely decline involvement during any stage of the survey. Risk to individuals was minimal, and best efforts to maintain the minimal risk. During analysis and presentation of the survey findings, names and addresses of participants were not mentioned.
: Not applicable.
: FO has a conflict of interest as they are an editor for this journal. The other authors have no competing interests.