What was meant to mark one 12 months of robotic surgical procedure became a bigger story: a human audit of Nigeria’s medical tourism burden and the way it is being solved at dwelling, one scarless operation at a time. With prostate most cancers nonetheless the most typical most cancers in Nigerian males and hundreds spending $15,000 to $20,000 overseas for therapy, a Lagos hospital’s weekly robotic surgical procedure programme is proving that lives as soon as turned away elsewhere can now be saved right here, whereas conserving tens of millions in overseas trade throughout the nation. Writes MARY NNAH
Joseph Adie Ogar was in his 40s in 2012, working on the National Assembly, when he started waking as much as urinate steadily. He went to the clinic on the Assembly, was referred to a hospital in Asokoro, then, on his sister’s recommendation, to National Hospital. The physician was shocked at his age. He requested him to repeat the exams. They confirmed it: prostate most cancers.
The therapy was surgical procedure. The warning round him was completely different – that after such surgical procedure, he would lose his sexual operate. Fear round prostate surgical procedure in Nigeria usually outlives the most cancers itself.
Ogar grew to become Nigeria’s first Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy in 2012. The operation was carried out at Kelina Hospital throughout a coaching go to by Dr. Mahesh Desai, then President of Société Internationale d’Urologie, who got here as a result of Kelina had the gear no different hospital had. All urologists in Nigeria had been invited for the coaching. Only 14 got here.
Fourteen years later, Ogar sat in a press convention in Lagos on October 10, 2026, known as to mark one 12 months of robotic surgical procedure. He sat wholesome, with out remedy for the situation since 2012, with out radiotherapy or chemotherapy, going just for common PSA checks – his final about 5.0 and together with his household life intact.
“I am alive, I have a wife, and I am grateful that I can continue to enjoy my life with her,” he mentioned.
He nonetheless remembers the concern that just about stopped him. “I told the doctor I would rather die than lose my sexual life,” he confessed, however the physician reassured him, operated, and saved calling after the operation till Ogar informed him he was fully positive. That concern is why medical tourism thrives. That survival is why it doesn’t need to.
The press convention had the complete management of Kelina: President, Dr. Celsus Ukelina Undie; Chairman of the Board, Dr. Ifeanyi Anago; board members; Chief Medical Director for Abuja, Dr. Kelechi Nedosa; Chief Medical Director for Lagos, Dr. Ibukun Adeyinka; consultants; administration and workers.
October is Cancer Awareness Month, and prostate most cancers is the most typical most cancers affecting males in Nigeria. Undie mentioned the day was to evaluation one 12 months of robotics, thank sufferers who trusted them – many younger individuals who returned to wholesome lives with out bodily limitations and thank God for serving to them this far.
The numbers behind the thanks had been offered by Dr. Undie and by Dr. Doose Doo, Company Secretary and Head of Corporate Governance.
Kelina has now carried out greater than 7,000 surgical procedures, approaching 8,000. The caseload consists of diabetic sufferers, sufferers in coronary heart failure and kidney failure, sufferers who got here on stretchers and in wheelchairs, and sufferers rejected elsewhere.
For 15 years, it recorded no deaths in its working theatre, conserving mortality at 0.0007 %. That report was damaged solely after 15 years.
In 2025 alone, 212 prostate surgical procedures utilizing robotic, Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP, and laparoscopic strategies – the best quantity in Nigeria.
Over 800 HoLEP surgical procedures in eight years, which means over 100 per 12 months, as a result of Nigerians have chosen it over TURP. Only laser and open surgical procedure can take out prostates of any dimension, however HoLEP has no wound on the pores and skin, no scar, much less bleeding, decrease transfusion fee, much less ache, shorter admission, and simpler return to work.
According to American Urological Association and European Association of Urology tips, TURP must be restricted to prostates smaller than 100g. HoLEP has no dimension limitation.
Since September 2025, over 50 robotic radical prostatectomies. Kelina is the primary hospital in Africa to amass the EDGE MP1000 surgical robotic and the primary fully Nigerian-based crew doing Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy frequently since June 2026.
It is as we speak the one hospital in Nigeria doing robotic surgical procedure each week. Two had been achieved final week. One achieved two days earlier than the briefing was already on his toes in the ward, consuming with out restriction, ready for discharge, exercising vigorously till workers needed to advise him to decelerate.
Since June 2026, no robotic prostate most cancers affected person has required blood transfusion. One affected person got here with packed cell quantity of 49 % and left the theatre at 43 %.
More than 50 % of urology sufferers are discharged inside 24 hours.
These efficiencies are the financial argument in opposition to medical tourism, and the second affected person in the room illustrates it.
Temilola Oke first got here to Kelina round 2014 or 2015. At that point, Kelina operated solely in Abuja. She travelled from Lagos to Abuja for giant kidney stones and had a process. Afterward, medical doctors discovered a congenital abnormality, an obstruction stopping urine from draining correctly from her kidney, current from start, that may completely harm the kidney if not corrected. Previously, correction meant open surgical procedure and a big stomach scar. She was informed in 2015. She refused.
“I was reluctant to undergo the operation because I thought it would leave me with a large scar on my abdomen,” she mentioned.
In 2018, she returned and have become Nigeria’s first Laparoscopic Pyeloplasty. She takes no remedy for it as we speak, solely unrelated dietary supplements, and he or she is properly.
Kelina mentioned she was one motive administration determined to come back to Lagos, as a number of sufferers had been coming to Abuja from Lagos for minimally invasive surgical procedure.
The third story, narrated by Dr. Adeyinka, is the starkest. A person arrived with a urinary bladder crammed with blood clots, in kidney failure and on dialysis, in coronary heart failure with an ejection fraction of about 30 %, depending on oxygen, and bleeding severely. For 15 years he wanted surgical procedure, and different hospitals rejected him as unfit.”
His relations in America suggested him to come back to Kelina,” Adeyinka mentioned. “When he arrived, we knew that with out surgical procedure, he would possible die. Although the process carried vital dangers, it provided him an opportunity of survival.
“The team worked him up carefully and performed emergency HoLEP between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.” He survived and is alive as we speak, dwelling a wholesome life and fully free from kidney failure,” Adeyinka mentioned.
These will not be sufferers who may have flown overseas for $15,000 to $20,000. They are sufferers who would have died at dwelling if the capability didn’t exist at dwelling.
Dr. Nedosa offered one other first that defines the problem. A affected person had kidney most cancers. One kidney was eliminated for most cancers in India about 10 years earlier. The remaining kidney – a solitary kidney – later developed most cancers. If eliminated, he would wish dialysis two or thrice every week for all times or a transplant, however transplant sufferers want immunosuppression to stop rejection, and immunosuppression suppresses the physique from combating most cancers, so most cancers sufferers don’t do properly with transplantation.
“The only chance he had was a partial nephrectomy. In other words, nearly half of the remaining kidney would have to be taken out, along with the cancer, for him to continue to live. That was exactly what we did,” Undie defined.
Kelina carried out Nigeria’s first Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy in a solitary kidney in 2025. The affected person is alive as we speak, not on dialysis, with solely 1 / 4 of the general kidney quantity he was given by God.
In 2025, Kelina additionally carried out what it data as Nigeria’s first Robotic Radical Nephrectomy on a medical physician who had kidney most cancers and didn’t need every other technique other than robotic surgical procedure.
Dr. Nedosa positioned these in a sequence of Nigerian firsts that constructed native capability to cease journey: First PCNL in Nigeria in 2011, a minimally invasive process for giant kidney stones the place different strategies fail other than open surgical procedure. To do it, Kelina acquired particular gear together with ultrasonic, pneumatic, and laser lithotripsy machines and the Swiss Lithoclast Master, the primary ever in Nigeria, which breaks stones and sucks particles on the similar time – in all probability the most effective machine ever made for big stones. Since 2011, kidney stones of all sizes and areas, and bladder stones, have been handled right here.
For Kelina Hospital, the listing of Nigerian firsts is lengthy, and every was offered with dates: First laser lithotripsy for kidney stones by a purely Nigerian crew in February 2012, after the primary laser was acquired by a personal hospital in 2010. Foreign specialists initially assisted with coaching, however the Nigerian crew developed experience independently to carry out it alone. First Transurethral Bipolar Enucleation of the Prostate in 2012 throughout Desai’s go to. First tubeless supracostal PCNL in 2013, a harder technique achieved with out nephrostomy tubes, going above the ribs and risking lung or pleura harm, with outcomes offered on the Nigerian Association of Urological Surgeons AGM in Ibadan.
First Mini-PCNL in 2013 utilising very tiny devices that depart little or no mark; for stones, versatile endoscopy can’t attain the place normal PCNL is not needed, additionally offered in Ibadan. First Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy in 2012 – Ogar’s case. First Laparoscopic Pyeloplasty in 2018 – Temilola’s case.
First HoLEP in 2018 after sending a urologist to Europe for coaching because of affected person demand. Now, first robotic instances in 2025 and a weekly robotic programme from June 2026.
Undie, answering questions on why mark one 12 months and whether or not robotics can substitute typical surgical procedure, mentioned robotics is truly simpler than laparoscopic in many respects, and laparoscopic is much less invasive than open. Many surgeons have practiced for over 35 years when most procedures had been open as a result of know-how and gear weren’t out there. Patients started asking for minimally invasive procedures unavailable regionally, forcing many to journey overseas. Their wants challenged Kelina to develop companies.
“Robotic surgery has several advantages, although the equipment is expensive, the required skills are not widely available, and the training can be demanding. Once the necessary skills are acquired, however, the procedures can be easier to perform than some other surgical methods,” he mentioned.
The affected person two days earlier than ate the identical day and moved the following day. Robotic surgical procedure provides three-dimensional imaginative and prescient, improved precision, and devices that reduce hand tremor. But no surgical technique is excellent. Kidney stones want a laser or PCNL. Kelina makes use of a number of strategies – endoscopic, laparoscopic, laser, robotic — relying on situation. Robotic is significantly helpful for prostate most cancers.
Dr. Obiwuru clarified volumes: commonest is HoLEP, then prostate most cancers and kidney stone surgical procedure, plus gallstones, normal surgical procedure, and gynaecological surgical procedure. Urology stays the center of operations as a result of most senior surgeons are urologists.
Total over 7,000, approaching 8,000, with some losses over 18 years however none in theatre for the primary 15 years.
On overseas trade, he gave the reference that now defines the headline: the place he skilled overseas, therapy value $15,000 to $20,000 per affected person. Using that determine, financial savings will be estimated, although the precise quantity is determined by process, hospital, and journey. At $15,000, 7,000 sufferers is $105 million. At $20,000, $140 million – earlier than flights, visas, and lodges.
Kelina has obtained Federal Government recognition for curbing medical tourism: Pioneer Status in Minimally Invasive Surgery in 2012 from the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council and Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment – first hospital in Nigeria to obtain it – plus assist via the Ministry of Finance with concessions and reductions on the import of specialized gear not available elsewhere.
It operates in Abuja and Lagos with eight specialties: Urology with 4 consultants, Obstetrics and Gynaecology with 3, ENT with 4, Cardiology with 2, Nephrology with 2 with model new dialysis machines and doubly purified water, Family Medicine with 2, Paediatrics with 2, General Surgery with 2. Yet two points stay: coaching and affordability.
On coaching, Undie mentioned a professor who skilled him contacted him weeks in the past, suggesting a proper coaching program at Kelina with accreditation. Previously reluctant as a result of surgical coaching can harm gear costing N20m to N30m per instrument, however visiting urologists already prepare – one from one other nation skilled for a 12 months earlier than returning dwelling, one other anticipated earlier than the tip of October, one other subsequent month- with a nationwide programme deliberate early subsequent 12 months to make sure experience spreads relatively than stays concentrated.
On serving to those that can’t afford surgical procedure and partnership with the federal government, Undie returned to most cancers’s actuality.
“Cancer surgery, particularly prostate cancer surgery, is a matter of life and death. Nobody has a relative or children in the grave,” he mentioned.
“If a woman needs to have her breast removed because of cancer, she cannot refuse… If a woman needs to have her uterus removed because of cancer, she cannot put the desire to have more children ahead of saving her life. When a man needs prostate cancer surgery to survive, the first priority is not an erection. That concern can be addressed after… Many patients recover their erectile function naturally, as the patient who spoke earlier explained. Others may require medication, injections or even penile implants. We have medication. With an injection of just 0.3 millilitres, a patient may be able to achieve an erection… Saving the patient’s life comes first; other concerns can be addressed afterwards.”
He has had sufferers in China who obtained surgical procedure fully free, collaborates with NGOs that sponsor surgical procedure, however personal hospitals can’t do 1,000 free surgical procedures with out closing as a result of salaries should be paid and gear changed.
“Thousands, if not tens of millions, of Nigerians want help… We subsequently want your assist in reaching folks and establishments that may present assist… Healthcare ought to obtain comparable consideration… Why has India turn out to be a significant vacation spot for medical tourism?
“Government assist, together with entry to loans at decrease rates of interest, has helped its healthcare sector develop. I just lately spoke with somebody who mentioned loans had been out there at 4 per cent curiosity, in contrast with the a lot larger charges charged by Nigerian banks.
“We need similar support because one hospital cannot solve the healthcare problems of the entire country. We are not asking for free money or support for Kelina Hospital alone. We are asking for support for hospitals across Nigeria. Private hospitals are driving a significant part of healthcare delivery in the country, and they need assistance to acquire modern technology and improve services. With the right support, more advanced medical procedures can be performed locally, helping to reduce the amount of money Nigerians spend on treatment abroad.”
That is the complete which means of weekly robotic surgical procedure in Lagos. It is not only a robotic that permits consuming the identical day, strolling the following day, discharge inside 24 hours, and blood loss from 49 % to 43 %.
It is a person in his 40s who refused to just accept that most cancers surgical procedure meant dropping manhood and saved it for 14 years, a girl who feared a scar and saved her kidney, a person with one kidney left who saved 1 / 4 of it and stayed off dialysis, and a person on dialysis and oxygen rejected for 15 years who now lives freed from kidney failure – all operated at dwelling. When that occurs each week, Nigeria saves not solely $20,000 per affected person, however the life that may have been misplaced looking for it.
