Letter to the editor : “Oral health research in the WHO African region : a scoping review”

Abstract

We commend the authors of “Oral Health Research in the WHO African Region: A Scoping Review” for addressing oral health research in Africa (Labarca et al. 2024). However, we express concern about 2 aspects. First, of the 28 authors, only 2 are affiliated with institutions in Africa. The poor representation of African researchers on this study raises concerns about equitable researcher representation in a study about Africa. Including more African scholars could have ensured that findings more accurately reflected African perspectives about the health care systems and challenges faced. The poor representation of African scholars may reflect the external “foreign gaze” in global health narratives (Abimbola 2019).