Medical professionals in Nigeria are encouraged to embrace social media but should be professional when using the various platforms in order not to contravene the tenets of healthcare practice.

This was the main takeaway from Nigeria's first healthcare sector social media masterclass organised by online health news platform HealthNewsNG.com at the Medic West Africa exhibition and conference held recently in Lagos.

During a panel discussion it was agreed that healthcare practitioners in Nigeria can no longer ignore social media because of its increasing popularity among patients and other members of the public, many of whom search online for health-related information.

Speakers quoted several studies that proved that citizens are becoming increasingly reliant on social media for their healthcare needs.

According to Pew Internet research 1 in 4 internet users have watched an online video about health; tracked weight, diet, exercise routine or other health indicator online; and consulted online reviews of drugs/medical treatments.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) also reported that nearly 90% of 18-to 24-year-olds have indicated they would engage in health activities through social media; nearly 50% of respondents expect their healthcare providers to respond within a few hours to appointment requests made via social media; and customers spent a significant amount of time on healthcare consumer community sites compared to healthcare company sites.

Several important issues were highlighted during the conference including professional versus private presence, appropriate use of social media, social media access on hospital networks, professional guidelines and human resources policies.

Emeka Nwosu, a nurse and member of Nigeria's Ebola response delegation to Liberia, said that whereas previously healthcare professionals would act against rules of conduct and post sensitive patient information and pictures online, there is an increasing consciousness on the potential impact of unprofessional social media behaviour.

"They now know that they could get sued, lose their licenses and even go to jail over what they say or put online. They've heard stories of what happened to their colleagues here or elsewhere, for putting patient information online," Nwosu said.

Panelists agreed that hospitals in Nigeria can leverage social media to offer community outreach, education, public relations, crisis communications, recruitment, brand monitoring and other customer services.

The message to healthcare professionals was that they have a role to play to help educate patients about using social media responsibly, and that medical practitioners should ensure they do not promote unproven treatments, share links to bogus treatments, and avoid information overload.