Global Underrepresentation of African Populations in Anatomical and Biomedical Datasets: Implications for Health Equity

Africa is a continent with a large population but with a reduced representation of Africans inanatomical and biomedical datasets globally. The accuracy and suitability of biomedicalresearch is limited by this underrepresentation, perpetuating health outcome inequities. Thisstudy aimed to systematically review the extent to which there is an Africanunderrepresentation in anatomical and biomedical datasets and its implications for healthequity. The objectives are to analyze the extent of underrepresentation, identify the biomedicalareas underrepresented, and to evaluate the clinical implications of overlooking anatomicalvariations. A systematic search was conducted using Google Scholar and PubMed, restrictedto review articles published in the past five years. Out of 857 articles initially obtained fromthe search, 25 papers met the inclusion criteria, 14 papers from Google Scholar and 11 fromPubMed. The limited number of acceptable studies itself show a systemic gap in the inclusionof African populations in biomedical research. This review highlights that the domination ofEurocentric datasets undermines accuracy in diagnosis, surgical safety, and therapeuticeffectiveness in African contexts, especially in oncology, neuroimaging, and anatomyeducation. It underlines the necessity, both ethical and clinical, of incorporating African datainto biomedical frameworks, while also identifying structural barriers such as weak researchfacilities and imbalance in funding. As a way forward, this review recommends that Africanledresearch initiatives be prioritised, and deliberate expansion of anatomical and biomedicaldatasets, to reflect African population diversity be made.