Nigeria Physiotherapists Oppose MDCN Bill Over AI and Device Control
Why It Matters
The dispute highlights the tension between centralized medical boards and specialized healthcare professionals over who governs emerging AI-driven diagnostics and digital therapeutic technologies.
Key Points
- The NSP claims HB 2695 grants the MDCN overarching authority that excludes and undermines existing regulators like the MRTB.
- Proposed regulations would give MDCN control over AI-assisted rehab, telerehabilitation, and digital monitoring systems.
- Physiotherapists fear the reclassification of core tools like ultrasound and laser therapies as exclusively 'medical' will erode their professional autonomy.
- The NSP identifies a legislative imbalance where one bill expands MDCN power while a concurrent bill (HB 2703) allegedly weakens the MRTB.
- The NSP and NUAHP are demanding that both bills be 'stepped down' for further consultation and more inclusive drafting.
The Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy (NSP) has formally opposed the proposed Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) Bill (HB 2695), alleging it constitutes a regulatory overreach into specialized healthcare domains. The NSP contends that the bill’s broad language grants the MDCN exclusive authority over digital health, including AI-assisted rehabilitation and telerehabilitation, which currently falls under the Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Board (MRTB). Furthermore, the bill seeks to regulate therapeutic technologies such as ultrasound and laser therapies, tools central to physiotherapy practice. NSP President Dr. Oyinlola Felix Odusanya argues that the legislation undermines professional autonomy and creates jurisdictional conflicts by absorbing independent fields like radiology and pathology under a singular medical framework. The NSP, in collaboration with the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, is calling for the National Assembly to pause legislative action to prevent a 'dangerous imbalance' in Nigeria's healthcare governance.
Nigeria's physiotherapists are blowing the whistle on a new law that could give a single medical board total control over high-tech healthcare. Think of it like a city's transport office trying to claim they also own all the bike lanes and sidewalks just because people travel on them. The physiotherapists are worried that 'digital health' and 'AI rehab' are being defined so broadly that their specialized work will be taken over by a board that doesn't understand their tools, like lasers and ultrasound. They want the government to hit the pause button before one group gets too much power over everyone else.
Sides
Critics
Opposes the bill due to concerns over jurisdictional overreach, loss of professional autonomy, and centralization of digital health regulation.
Collaborating with the NSP to demand the suspension of the current bills to protect the interests of non-physician healthcare workers.
Defenders
Proposed as the overarching regulatory body to modernize medical regulation and centralize authority over various health practices.
Neutral
The existing statutory body whose mandate is allegedly being undermined by the new MDCN legislation.
Noise Level
Forecast
The National Assembly is likely to hold public hearings or establish a joint committee to address the friction between the MDCN and allied health professionals. Legislative progress will likely stall in the near term as groups like the NUAHP exert political pressure to ensure their specific technological domains remain independent.
Based on current signals. Events may develop differently.
Timeline
NSP Issues Public Statement
President Dr. Oyinlola Felix Odusanya releases a detailed critique of HB 2695 and HB 2703 citing threats to physiotherapy.
Join the Discussion
Discuss this story
Community comments coming in a future update
Be the first to share your perspective. Subscribe to comment.