What was meant to mark one yr of robotic surgical procedure was 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 1000’s spending $15,000 to $20,000 overseas for remedy, 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 hundreds of thousands in overseas alternate 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 often. 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 stunned at his age. He requested him to repeat the exams. They confirmed it: prostate most cancers.
The remedy was surgical procedure. The warning round him was completely different – that after such surgical procedure, he would lose his sexual perform. Fear round prostate surgical procedure in Nigeria typically 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 tools no different hospital had. All urologists in Nigeria have 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 yr of robotic surgical procedure. He sat wholesome, with out treatment for the situation since 2012, with out radiotherapy or chemotherapy, going just for common PSA checks – his final about 5.0 and along 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 stated.
He nonetheless remembers the worry 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 instructed him he was fully effective. That worry is why medical tourism thrives. That survival is why it doesn’t should.
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 employees.
October is Cancer Awareness Month, and prostate most cancers is the most typical most cancers affecting males in Nigeria. Undie stated the day was to overview one yr 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 have 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 contains 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 p.c. That document 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, that means over 100 per yr, 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 accumulate the EDGE MP1000 surgical robotic and the primary fully Nigerian-based crew doing Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy usually since June 2026.
It is in the present day the one hospital in Nigeria doing robotic surgical procedure each week. Two have been finished final week. One finished two days earlier than the briefing was already on his ft in the ward, consuming with out restriction, ready for discharge, exercising vigorously till employees 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 p.c and left the theatre at 43 p.c.
More than 50 p.c 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 big kidney stones and had a process. Afterward, docs discovered a congenital abnormality, an obstruction stopping urine from draining correctly from her kidney, current from beginning, that might completely injury the kidney if not corrected. Previously, correction meant open surgical procedure and a big stomach scar. She was instructed 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 stated.
In 2018, she returned and have become Nigeria’s first Laparoscopic Pyeloplasty. She takes no treatment for it in the present day, solely unrelated dietary supplements, and she or he is properly.
Kelina stated she was one motive administration determined to come back to Lagos, as a number of sufferers have 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 full of blood clots, in kidney failure and on dialysis, in coronary heart failure with an ejection fraction of about 30 p.c, depending on oxygen, and bleeding severely. For 15 years he wanted surgical procedure, and different hospitals rejected him as unfit.”
His family members in America suggested him to come back to Kelina,” Adeyinka stated. “When he arrived, we knew that with out surgical procedure, he would probably die. Although the process carried important dangers, it supplied 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 in the present day, residing a wholesome life and fully free from kidney failure,” Adeyinka stated.
These are usually not sufferers who might 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 difficulty. 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 want dialysis two or 3 times 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 in the present day, 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 another technique aside from 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 big kidney stones the place different strategies fail aside from open surgical procedure. To do it, Kelina acquired particular tools 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 – most likely the perfect machine ever made for enormous 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 non-public 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 finished with out nephrostomy tubes, going above the ribs and risking lung or pleura injury, 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 customary PCNL is not crucial, 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 attributable to affected person demand. Now, first robotic circumstances in 2025 and a weekly robotic programme from June 2026.
Undie, answering questions on why mark one yr and whether or not robotics can change typical surgical procedure, stated robotics is really 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 have been open as a result of know-how and tools weren’t out there. Patients started asking for minimally invasive procedures unavailable domestically, 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 stated.
The affected person two days earlier than ate the identical day and moved the subsequent day. Robotic surgical procedure provides three-dimensional imaginative and prescient, improved precision, and devices that decrease hand tremor. But no surgical technique is good. 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: most typical is HoLEP, then prostate most cancers and kidney stone surgical procedure, plus gallstones, basic 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 alternate, he gave the reference that now defines the headline: the place he educated overseas, remedy value $15,000 to $20,000 per affected person. Using that determine, financial savings could be estimated, although the precise quantity is dependent upon process, hospital, and journey. At $15,000, 7,000 sufferers is $105 million. At $20,000, $140 million – earlier than flights, visas, and accommodations.
Kelina has acquired 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 help via the Ministry of Finance with concessions and reductions on the import of specialized tools 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 stated a professor who educated 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 injury tools costing N20m to N30m per instrument, however visiting urologists already practice – one from one other nation educated for a yr earlier than returning dwelling, one other anticipated earlier than the tip of October, one other subsequent month- with a nationwide programme deliberate early subsequent yr to make sure experience spreads fairly 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 stated.
“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 acquired 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 have to be paid and tools changed.
“Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Nigerians want help… We due to this fact want your assist in reaching folks and establishments that may present help… Healthcare ought to obtain related consideration… Why has India develop into a serious vacation spot for medical tourism?
“Government help, together with entry to loans at decrease rates of interest, has helped its healthcare sector develop. I not too long ago spoke with somebody who stated loans have been out there at 4 per cent curiosity, in contrast with the a lot increased 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 that means of weekly robotic surgical procedure in Lagos. It is not only a robotic that enables consuming the identical day, strolling the subsequent day, discharge inside 24 hours, and blood loss from 49 p.c to 43 p.c.
It is a person in his 40s who refused to simply accept that most cancers surgical procedure meant shedding 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 might have been misplaced looking for it.
