Advancement of telemedicine in Africa and the current laws: A case study of Nigeria

Abstract

Advancements in technology have heralded more than a few cutting-edge benefits. Medicine is a vital sector of every nation and it has benefitted from these advancements in delivering health care services at a distance. The increasing use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by a vast population worldwide has been pivotal for telemedicine in recent years. Many developed and developing countries of the world have embraced telemedicine as a proactive means of delivering health care services to their citizens, although at different rates of development. The challenges associated with health care service and delivery is numerous and telemedicine has become one solution to counter some of these challenges. This paper seeks to examine the state of telemedicine in Nigeria. It identifies the gaps that ought to be filled in the Nigerian legal system and proposes relevant policies and legislation that must be formulated by government alongside appropriate authorities in order to ensure an optimum telemedicine system that meets the standards of conventional medicine.