The Frontline Shift is a podcast by WHO in the occupied Palestinian territory that examines one of the most complex emergency health responses in the world: Gaza.
Through firsthand accounts from emergency medical teams, coordinated and deployed by WHO, the short series revisits key moments from the two-year conflict between October 2023 and October 2025, as well as the ongoing health response.
Each episode explores how health workers delivered care amid access constraints, power outages, severe shortages of medical supplies, and hostilities, while working to maintain essential services. It also highlights the challenges they continue to face and the needs related to rehabilitating and rebuilding the health system.
Focused on operational realities and lessons learned, The Frontline Shift offers insights into what it takes to sustain a health system under extreme pressure.
The podcast is intended for medical and humanitarian professionals, as well as listeners seeking a deeper understanding of health response challenges on the ground in the Gaza Strip.
Hosted by:
Dr Egmond Evers, Health Emergencies Team Lead, WHO occupied Palestinian territory
Dr Luca Pigozzi, Acting In Charge Gaza, WHO occupied Palestinian territory
Production:
Bisma Akbar, Team Lead Communications, WHO occupied Palestinian territory
Qasem Tobal, Communications Officer, WHO occupied Palestinian territory
Episodes
A child with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) admitted to the inpatient SAM stabilization unit at Patient Friends Association Hospital. Photo credit: WHO
Episode 5: Malnutrition in Gaza
Before the conflict, malnutrition in Gaza was rare. By 2025, it had become one of the key health issues of the conflict. In this episode, Dr Dalia AbuJahel, WHO's Reproductive Health Officer, and Salwa Al-Tibi, Country Representative for emergency medical team Med-Global, discuss the scale of the malnutrition crisis in Gaza, how it unfolded, and what the response has looked like on the ground.
They speak to the human cost — including the story of two sisters, Jana and Joury, who died from severe acute malnutrition despite receiving care — and reflect on the broader impact on paediatric and maternal health, from rising rates of prematurity and low birth weight to overwhelmed neonatal units and shortages of essential supplies. They also look at what recovery will require, and why the situation, while stabilising, remains fragile.
International EMTs performing a surgery in Public Health Hospital in North Gaza
Episode 4: Trauma Care During the Conflict
When conflict overwhelmed Gaza's health system, the pressure on trauma care became almost unimaginable. In this episode, three experts who were on the ground speak with WHO: a national emergency medical team leader, a WHO EMT coordinator, and a WHO trauma surgeon. Together, they recount what it took to treat the injured — triaging patients amidst insecurity, transferring them from hospitals that were near active conflict, making impossible decisions in real time, and keeping care going when supplies, staff, and safety were all running out. From the story of one patient moved three times across a collapsing health system, to the role of the national emergency medical team in keeping Shifa Hospital functioning, this episode is human account of resilience to keep health care going.
A health worker examines a child at a primary health care centre in Gaza
Episode 3: Delivering Primary Healthcare in Gaza
After two years of conflict, more than 42,000 people in Gaza are living with potentially life-changing injuries, including over 5,000 amputations and thousands of spinal cord injuries, burns, and complex limb injuries.
In this episode of Frontline Shift, health workers from NORWAC — an emergency medical team working in coordination with WHO in the Gaza Strip since February 2024 — alongside a WHO rehabilitation specialist, discuss the urgent needs, gaps, and challenges in expanding access to physical rehabilitation services. They share how the lack of functioning services and essential assistive devices is affecting patients’ recovery, independence, and quality of life.
A young patient injured during the conflict in Gaza receives physical rehabilitation at Al-Amal PRCS Rehabilitation Hospital
Episode 2: Supporting Rehabilitation Needs
After two years of conflict, more than 42,000 people in Gaza are living with potentially life-changing injuries, including over 5,000 amputations and thousands of spinal cord injuries, burns, and complex limb injuries.
In this episode of Frontline Shift, health workers from NORWAC — an emergency medical team working in coordination with WHO in the Gaza Strip since February 2024 — alongside a WHO rehabilitation specialist, discuss the urgent needs, gaps, and challenges in expanding access to physical rehabilitation services. They share how the lack of functioning services and essential assistive devices is affecting patients’ recovery, independence, and quality of life.
CADUS team members transfer a patient at Kamal Adwan Hospital to southern Gaza for further medical care– April 2024
Episode 1: Patient Evacuation During Conflict
In this episode of The Frontline Shift, health workers from CADUS, an emergency medical team working in coordination with WHO in the Gaza Strip since February 2024, share experiences from the field.
The episode examines the challenges of patient transfers during conflict, including internal transfers from unsafe hospitals to facilities offering relative safety, medical evacuations via the Kerem Shalom Crossing for treatment abroad, and the emergency response to mass casualty incidents during food distribution.
Drawing on firsthand experience, CADUS team members highlight the challenges of access constraints, equipment shortages and prolonged delays, offering practical insight into what it takes to move patients safely and sustain care in an active conflict setting.
Upcoming episode
