APPRAISAL OF LEGAL FRAMEWORK REGULATING TELEMEDICINE IN NIGERIA: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

The COVID 19 pandemic has exposed the flaws of the Nigerian health sector. Patients and clients were affected by the lock down during (the hey-days) of the pandemic. Medical appointments between doctors and clients/patients were not actualized because there was no movement from one place to another. Patients on medical tourism could not access their foreign treatment centers because of global lock down. In light of these developments, what can the citizens do in order to access quality health care in times of public health emergency? Also, how has the Nigerian law provided enabling grounds for people that could not physically access health care providers to interface with their doctors? How ready is Nigeria to address the health security of its citizens against future pandemics? I t is in an attempt to answer these posers that this article derived its motivation. Therefore, the aim of this article is to appraise the efficacy or otherwise of the legal regime regulating the deployment of telemedicine in Nigeria. It is also an exposition on the imperative of telemedicine in access to health care.  The writers of this article have established that Nigerian law did not sufficiently legislate on matters relating to telemedicine in Nigeria. Also, the state was not committed in the development of infrastructures and facilities to sustain the reality of telemedicine. This article deployed doctrinal reference where statutes and case laws were used. Equally, books and articles in journals were deployed in the course of this writing. The writers conclude that there is the need to bolster our laws and state’s commitment in ensuring telemedicine is deployed to provide quality access to health care. It is the hope of these writers that this paper would inspire policy formulation and contributes to knowledge.