How Africa’s first remote robotic surgery was done from the US over 7,000 miles away
A man in Angola has become the first person in Africa to undergo robotic surgery remotely controlled by a doctor in the United States.
The groundbreaking operation involved the removal of part or all of the patient’s prostate and was completed on June 14 in the capital, Luanda.
The surgeon, Dr. Vipul Patel from AdventHealth hospital in Florida, guided the procedure from nearly 7,000 miles away.
According to the hospitals involved, it is the longest-distance robotic surgery ever performed. A team of local medical staff, including surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists, and engineers, assisted in the operating room in Angola.
The patient, 67-year-old Fernando da Silva, was discharged just three days after the surgery and is now recovering at home.
The hospital, Complexo Hospitalar Cardeal Dom Alexandre do Nascimento, described the procedure as a major step for African healthcare and the first of its kind on the continent.
Dr. Patel said the surgery was not only a scientific milestone but also an important moment in making high-quality care more accessible to patients in remote or low-resource settings.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
