Hospital Urges Zero Tax On Life-saving Tech Amid Prostate Cancer Milestone

Kelina Hospital, a leading private hospital in Lagos and Abuja has urged the federal government to impose zero tax on imported medical equipment, arguing that current import duties are inflating costs, restricting access to advanced treatments, and fueling Nigeria’s massive medical tourism outflow.

This is even as the hospital has crossed a major clinical milestone, completing more than 100 prostate cancer surgeries within two years with no recorded mortality.

Chief Medical Director of Kelina Hospital, Dr. Celsus Undie, made the call during a press conference in Lagos, tying the demand directly to the hospital’s latest achievement.

He said Kelina Hospital carried out a total of 212 prostate surgeries in 2025 alone, covering both prostate cancer and benign prostatic enlargement, making it the highest annual volume recorded by a single hospital in Nigeria, based on available data.

“In January 2026, the hospital marked its 100th prostate cancer surgery performed using minimally invasive techniques within exactly two years, with all patients surviving the procedures.

“This is a remarkable feat and one that needs to be brought to public awareness. It shows that all hope is not lost in Nigeria. With the right systems, training, and technology, we can deliver outcomes comparable to the best hospitals anywhere in the world,” Undie said.

Kelina Hospital specialises in minimally invasive urological surgery, including robotic radical prostatectomy, laparoscopic surgery and laser-based procedures.

Undie said radical surgery remains the most effective curative treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, stressing that late presentation often limits care to palliative options.

The hospital offers open, laparoscopic and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy, with robotic surgery now the default option for most prostate cancer patients. According to the hospital, robotic procedures reduce blood loss, shorten hospital stay and improve recovery time, with more than half of urology patients discharged within 24 hours of surgery.

Kelina Hospital was also the first hospital in Nigeria to introduce Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) in 2018. Since 2019, it has performed more than 600 HoLEP procedures, recording a mortality rate below 0.2 percent, figures the hospital says are comparable with leading global centres.

Beyond prostate surgery, Kelina Hospital provides minimally invasive procedures across general surgery, gynaecology, paediatrics, ENT and orthopaedics. The hospital operates with a multidisciplinary team of local and diaspora specialists, including surgeons trained in advanced robotic and laparoscopic techniques.

Undie said the hospital has performed more than 6,000 surgeries overall, maintaining a surgical mortality rate below one percent, significantly lower than global averages reported by the United States National Institutes of Health, which place surgical mortality between 3.2 percent and 6 percent across hospital categories.

Despite the progress, Undie said high import duties on medical equipment remain a major constraint to scaling advanced care in Nigeria. He urged the government to remove or significantly reduce taxes on medical devices, describing healthcare as a humanitarian service rather than a commercial enterprise.

“Healthcare should not be taxed like luxury goods. Medical equipment is not manufactured in Nigeria, yet hospitals are required to pay substantial import duties. Reducing or eliminating these taxes would immediately improve access, lower costs for patients and strengthen the healthcare system,” he said.

Nigeria loses billions of dollars annually to outbound medical travel, particularly for complex surgeries. Kelina Hospital says its high-volume, technology-driven model has helped reverse that trend, with patients who can afford treatment abroad increasingly choosing to receive care locally.

The hospital also collaborates with charitable organisations and non-governmental groups to support patients who cannot afford surgery. According to Undie, many prostate cancer patients treated at Kelina Hospital receive partial or full financial support through such partnerships.

Kelina Hospital called for stronger collaboration between government, private healthcare providers and development partners to make advanced surgical care more affordable and accessible to Nigerians.

“Our goal is not competition. It is collaboration, for the benefit of patients and the future of healthcare in Nigeria,” Undie said..