Blockchain technology in healthcare within the global south: mapping the area and developing a research scenario

Abstract

Africa’s healthcare systems face profound structural challenges, including fragmented infrastructure, systemic data vulnerabilities, and unreliable medical supply chains, necessitating innovative, context-specific solutions. Blockchain technology has emerged as a transformative tool in global healthcare, yet research remains disproportionately focused on high-income economies, with less than 5% addressing Africa’s unique socio-technical landscape. This study employs a multi-method approach, combining bibliometric analysis, latent semantic analysis (LSA), and the PRISMA framework, to map blockchain-healthcare research in Africa, revealing critical gaps and proposing B4HC (Blockchain for Healthcare), a novel conceptual model tailored to resource-constrained settings. Our findings highlight blockchain’s potential to enhance data security in electronic health records (EHRs), optimize pharmaceutical supply chains, and empower patient-centric innovations like digital health wallets and decentralized telemedicine platforms. By addressing ethical and equitable adoption, this research challenges Eurocentric technological determinism, integrates social determinants of health, and aligns with decolonization agendas to foster inclusive health ecosystems. We provide policymakers with a roadmap for sustainable blockchain adoption and outline future research directions to bridge theoretical and practical gaps in decentralized health systems.