Telemedicine In Nigeria: Data Protection Considerations

Introduction

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic, pointing to the several cases of the coronavirus in over 110 countries and territories around the world and the sustained risk of further global spread of the virus. The declaration was necessitated by the spread of a disease, rather than the severity of the illness it causes. Several countries had at this time initiated lockdown procedures to prevent a further spread of the disease because as the total number of infections rose, so too did the number of cases that spread from person-to-person within communities around the world. Hospitals began to seek other avenues (mostly virtual) separate from in-person consultation, which would provide the much-needed healthcare as well as ensure the safety of all health workers and patients needing healthcare for non-critical ailments, by averting further contact with such high-risk patients.