Environmental Health Risks, Community Experiences, and Healthcare Access in Oil-Producing Low- and Middle-Income countries: A Scoping Review Protocol

The exploration of oil and its production have caused significant environmental degradation and posed critical health concerns in low- and middle-income (LMICs) oil producing regions. These regions exposed to gas flaring, oil spills, soil pollution, and contaminated water report various environmental health risks, health impacts as well as barriers to health healthcare access. Nonetheless, existing literature is fragmented both geographically and methodologically and limited to few countries. The main aim of this scoping review is to systematically map and synthesise multi-regional evidence on environmental health risks, lived community experiences, and healthcare access in oil-polluted localities in LMICs, with contextual grounding in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. This scoping review will follow the Framework of Arksey and O. Malley as enhanced by the Joanna Briggs Institute and will be reported using PRISMA-ScR. Databases to be searched include PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Global Health, LILACS, AJOL, and ProQuest Dissertations. Grey literature sources will include UNEP, WHO, World Bank, as well as environmental justice reports. Extracted data will be presented in tabular forms and then summarised in descriptive manner. Eligibility criteria are structured around population, concept, context, and study design. The review will include both qualitative and quantitative studies as well as studies with mixed methodologies, exploring the environmental health risks, lived community experiences, and healthcare access in these oil-producing countries. As data used for this review were available for the public, ethical approval is not required. The findings of this scoping review will inform and essentially support public and environmental health research in oil-rich yet vulnerable settings. Finally, results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication, policy brief, conference presentations, and stakeholder engagement in Bayelsa State, Nigeria.