Shifa, Girma Temam
Ahmed, Ahmed Ali
Yalew, Alemayehu Worku
Funding for this research was provided by:
Arba Minch University (GOV/AMU/TH5.4/CMHS/MW/05/06)
Article History
Received: 19 February 2016
Accepted: 20 February 2018
First Online: 27 February 2018
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: The study obtained ethical clearance and approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the College of Health Sciences at Addis Ababa University. Letters were written to the Gamo Gofa Zone Health Department, Woreda Health Offices of Arba Minch Zuria and Arba Minch Town and to administrator of each kebele and we secured permissions at all levels. After explaining about the purpose of the study, confidentiality of the data and voluntariness of participation, verbal informed consent was obtained from each respondent. In case of minors (under 16), verbal consent was also obtained from their legal guardians (parents/partners). A trained interviewer sat down with each respondent/guardian who was willing and available to participate and went over the consent form in a private space. The interviewer answered any questions the respondent might have and secured his/her consent. We sought and secured a waiver of written consent from the IRB, since this might be the only form of identifier. The main risk to participants might be breach of confidentiality. We assured the confidentiality of the information through anonymous interviews and securing the collected data in a locked cabinet. Besides, we only reported aggregated data so that no information could be linked to individuals.
: Not applicable
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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