Progress in publication activities on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Africa between 2013 and 2023: a systematic mapping study

Background The relatively low universal health coverage (UHC) effective coverage indices in most African countries is a cause for concern. Some African countries have effective coverage indices as low as 25 when the global average is 44-48. Although several African countries have initiated UHC activities, their implementation paces and approaches vary. The aim of this systematic mapping study is to describe the publication frequencies on UHC-related activities across African countries. The revealed publication patterns can guide the enhancement of UHC research, implementation, and publication in Africa. Methods This systematic mapping study was conducted by first establishing a research scope. Then, relevant publications were identified from PubMed, Google Scholar, Google, WHO, and uhc2030 search engines. A classification scheme was developed to guide the systematic mapping of the selected 202 publications. This systematic mapping study describes the variations in UHC-related publication types, contributions, focus areas, and dimensions between 2013 and 2023 across African countries. Results Analyzing the publications based on the developed classification scheme revealed that WHO was the most frequent author with 17 publications. Secondly, primary research articles (28.2%, n = 57) were the commonest while legislation (0.5%, n = 1) were the rarest. Most of the publications were on the financing and performance of health systems. Conclusions Overall, publication numbers and evidence value increased as time progressed from 2013 to 2023. The generated systematic maps indicate opportunities for UHC-promoting publication activities. Supporting the development of legislation and authoring systematic reviews are some of the opportunities that stakeholders can leverage to steer UHC in Africa.