Legal Requirements for Telemedicine Practice in Nigeria

The Medical and Dental Practitioners Act requires you to hold a current MDCN practising licence to give medical advice in Nigeria. The MDCN treats telemedicine as ordinary practice — the same Code of Medical Ethics applies whether you see the patient in clinic or hear them on the phone.

Practical effect: pay your annual MDCN fee, keep your folio number “in good standing”, and identify yourself with that folio number to every patient on request.

Healthcare data is “sensitive personal data” under both the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and the newer Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023. You must:

• Get explicit consent before collecting any health data.
• Store data encrypted (not in plaintext WhatsApp / Excel / Google Sheets).
• Allow patients to view, correct or delete their data on request.
• Notify the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) within 72 hours of any breach.
• File an annual data protection audit through a licensed DPCO.

Working through a NDPR-compliant platform (Medtrix and a few others) discharges most of this for you.

If you run telemedicine as an independent practice with its own brand or premises, you must register the facility with the state Ministry of Health. In Lagos this is HEFAMAA; other states have equivalent regulators. Working under a registered platform's licence usually exempts the individual doctor from a separate facility registration.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act regulates prescriptions for opioids, benzodiazepines and other controlled substances. By NDLEA practice direction these are not safely prescribed by phone — the patient should be seen in person, or referred to a clinic affiliated with the platform. Most reputable telemedicine providers block controlled-drug prescriptions in the workflow itself.

Telemedicine income is professional income. You owe:

• Personal income tax (PIT) to the state internal revenue service where you reside.
• VAT only if you operate as a corporate entity above the threshold; medical services are largely VAT-exempt for individuals.
• Withholding tax may be deducted at source by some platforms; check your dashboard.

Many active telemedicine doctors register a personal service company to consolidate income and reduce admin.

Not legally required, but strongly recommended. Providers like MDU, MPS Africa, and several Nigerian underwriters now sell telemedicine-specific cover for ₦50,000–₦150,000 per year. One avoided complaint pays for years of cover.