The Race Against Time for the Enhancement of African National Strategic Plans in the Neuroblastoma Research Heterogeneity

The valuation of neuroblastoma research heterogeneity at African country level is unspecified. Therefore, the study assesses the heterogeneity of neuroblastoma research in 54 African countries and develops recommendations for national cancer-control plans. Metadata of peer-reviewed scientific publications allied to African neuroblastoma research were retrieved from the Web of Science™ Core Collection Database for bibliometric analysis. Comprehensive science mapping analysis and statistical analyses were performed with bibliometric online platform² and GraphPad Prism v. 10.2.3. This study revealed that African countries focused the neuroblastoma research publications mainly on the sustainable development goal of good health and well-being. The dominating research area in Africa is oncology followed by pharmacology. Only 26 of 54 African countries were accountable for total neuroblastoma research in Africa, with South Africa and Egypt contributing 61% of the whole continent’s neuroblastoma research. Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco, and Nigeria are the five most active African countries, and they are funded by different funding agencies internationally and domestically. The collected analysed data of this study draws special attention to heterogeneity and enduring upward correlating trajectory of Africa’s neuroblastoma publication numbers, their citations, acquired funds, and countries’ cooperation. Furthermore, this heterogeneity finding flags the necessity of developing a comprehensive strategic plan and implementation to cultivate neuroblastoma research as a fundamental part of each African country’s national cancer control plans.