Trending 
A cancer patient in Angola is recovering after undergoing Africa’s first robotic surgery performed remotely by a surgeon based in the United States, according to the medical teams involved.
The operation, carried out on June 14, involved a prostatectomy—the partial or full removal of the prostate—and set a world record for the longest distance telesurgery ever performed.
The surgeon, Dr. Vipul Patel, medical director at the Global Robotics Institute at AdventHealth hospital in Celebration, Florida, conducted the procedure from nearly 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometres) away.
AdventHealth described the surgery as “completed,” while the Complexo Hospitalar Cardeal Dom Alexandre do Nascimento (CHDC) in Luanda, Angola, announced it as the first remote-assisted operation conducted both in Angola and across Africa.
The Luanda-based medical team included surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, engineers, and a member of Dr. Patel’s team, who coordinated efforts inside the operating theatre.
Hospital director Carlos Alberto Masseca confirmed to AFP that the operation “went well.” Three days after the surgery, the patient, 67-year-old Fernando da Silva, was discharged to continue his recovery at home.
Prostate cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from the Global Cancer Observatory. Access to early diagnosis and advanced surgical procedures remains limited in many African nations, including Angola.
Describing the procedure as a major milestone, Dr. Patel called it a “stunning breakthrough—not just technologically, but in advancing global health equity.”
He added, “This marks a critical step toward delivering high-quality surgical care to remote, rural, and underserved communities that have long lacked access. This is more than innovation—it’s a humanitarian leap forward.”
