The word healing can mean different things.

Around the world, MSF teams are caring for people caught in conflict zones, escaping violence, or trying to rebuild their lives after being forced to flee.

However, the wounds that many carry with them are not always physical, and they are rarely simple. Mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can affect every aspect of a person's life. But recovery can take time and is rarely possible whilst a person is still living with uncertainty and fear.

This means that, for many refugees and people seeking asylum, healing might just seem impossible.

For today's episode of Everyday Emergency, we're joined by members of an MSF team who are treating PTSD in people who have sought refuge in the UK, around the city of Birmingham.

To find out more about MSF or to make a donation, please visit msf.org.uk

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Presented by Amber Dowell

Edited by Sandy McKee

Series producer: Mark Lankester

Photo: MSF

Note: Due to the current rise of anti-refugee sentiment in the UK and incidents of our staff being harassed, we've changed the names of the team members we've interviewed for this episode.

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The current outbreak of Ebola disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has become the third largest on record. It is also the fastest-growing.

As of 26 July 2026, more than 3,200 cases have been confirmed, of which 1,400 people have lost their lives.

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams have been on the ground since the early stages of the outbreak, working in partnership with local communities and the Congolese health authorities to treat critically ill patients and help contain the disease itself.

But what is it like to be part of the team on the frontline of this humanitarian emergency?

Dr Johnny Falconer is a medical doctor, currently completing his mandatory isolation after working in Ituri province, one of the areas hardest hit by the outbreak. He joined us from Kinshasa, capital of the DRC, to share his experience.

To find out more about MSF or to make a donation, please visit msf.org.uk

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Presented by Amber Dowell

Edited by Sandy McKee

Series producer: Mark Lankester

Photo: Julien Dewarichet / MSF

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Right now, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams are working to provide life-saving care in crises around the world. But what about the lives that can’t be saved? Ciara Flood is an MSF nurse with a special interest in palliative care. She joins us today to talk about reducing suffering, crossing cultures, and putting patients first.

To find out more about MSF or to make a donation, please visit msf.org.uk

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Presented by Amber Dowell

Edited by Sandy McKee

Associate producer: Kate Lee

Series producer: Mark Lankester

Photo: Victor Oriema, MSF supported MOH palliative care nurse checks the vitals of Monica Anyango Onduko, a patient in palliative care during a home-based care visit. MSF and MoH teams in Homa Bay currently manage 39 patients in home-based palliative care.

Copyright: Lucy Makori/MSF 

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Every May in London, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hosts Scientific Days, an annual innovation conference.

The event brings together medical and humanitarian experts from around the world to share the research they have been doing into the conditions and crises that they face every day.

In this episode of Everyday Emergency, we spoke to three specialists about their research and how it could help patients.

From a game-changing antivenom to new tools in malaria prevention and the science of documenting traumatic injuries in Gaza, this is a behind-the-scenes look at life-saving innovation.

Speakers:

Matt Coldiron

Alan de Lima Pereira

Jenna Hoyt

Sohaib Safi

Presented by Amber Dowell

Edited by Sandy McKee

Associate producer: Kate Lee

Series producer: Mark Lankester

Photo: Toks Adeola

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April marked a sobering milestone: the three-year anniversary of the ongoing war in Sudan. The scale of the crisis has become enormous, with 33 million people now in need of humanitarian aid – more than the entire population of Australia. 

From the very first moments of the crisis, MSF teams have been responding, from running clinics in displacement camps to providing emergency surgery for people caught in the crossfire. 

Today, we’re joined by Dr Oliver Yerby, an emergency medicine specialist who has recently returned from an MSF assignment in Darfur, a region which has seen some of the worst consequences of the war.

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Presented by Amber Dowell

Edited by Sandy McKee

Associate producer: Kate Lee

Series producer: Mark Lankester

Photo: Cindy Gonzalez/MSF - Mustafa Omer Idriss, Sudanese doctor and MSF Medical Activities Manager, examines a child in Tawila Hospital.  

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For the past weeks, the world’s media has been focused on the crisis in the Middle East. 

The sharp escalation in violence has brought fear to the lives of millions of people. Airstrikes have hit densely populated areas with particular ferocity in Iran and in Lebanon, where hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes.

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams across the region have been adapting their programmes to respond to the crisis.

However, behind the headlines, on the other side of the Greater Middle East Region, a long-term humanitarian crisis continues to play out in Afghanistan.

For this month’s podcast, we spoke to Dr Mohammad Qaher Poya, the deputy nursing director at MSF's specialist trauma centre in Kunduz, a city in northern Afghanistan. 

The trauma centre was originally set up to meet the needs of people injured during the war in Afghanistan. Now, in this post-conflict environment, the team uses their long experience of dealing with what's known as 'mass casualty incidents' to save lives when the sheer number of patients threatens to overwhelm the hospital.

Dr Poya took a break between busy shifts to call us from Afghanistan.

If you would like to support our life-saving medical work around the world, please visit msf.org.uk to make a donation. Thank you.

Presented by Amber Dowell

Edited by Sandy McKee

Associate producer: Kate Lee

Series producer: Mark Lankester

Photo: Tasal Khogyani 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year in Gaza, MSF assisted in one in three births, supported one in five hospital beds, and provided 800,000 medical consultations. This year, however, our teams have faced the prospect that our operations in the Strip could be forced to close.

In this episode, we talk to nursing activity manager Steve Davidson and field communications officer Nour Alsaqqa: two people with firsthand knowledge of MSF’s work in Gaza, the life-saving impact it’s having, and what would be lost if it couldn’t continue. 

Presented by Amber Dowell

Edited by Sandy McKee

Associate producer: Kate Lee

Series producer: Mark Lankester

Photo: Motassem Abu Aser

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In Northern Nigeria, the conflict between government forces and armed groups is hitting communities hard. Vast numbers have been forced to flee, grabbing what they can, leaving behind their homes and livelihoods.

Amid the fear, kidnapping and violence, another crisis is unfolding: the number of women dying in pregnancy or childbirth is among the highest in the world, with one woman dying of these complications every seven minutes according to figures from the UN.

In this episode of Everyday Emergency, we're joined by Hauwa Tanko Audu, a health promotion supervisor, who tells us how the MSF team in the city of Maiduguri are working to ensure women and newborns have access to life-saving care.

Presented by Amber Dowell

Edited by Sandy McKee

Associate producer: Kate Lee

Series producer: Mark Lankester

Photo: Eugene Osidiana / MSF

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For this special episode of Everyday Emergency, we’re taking a look back at MSF’s work over the last 12 months.

This year, MSF teams were on the ground during some of the world's biggest crises. We provided essential medical care as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine continued, violence escalated in Sudan, and millions of people across the globe were caught up in crises that didn’t always make the headlines - from deadly disease outbreaks and natural disasters, to growing malnutrition.

If you would like to support our life-saving medical work around the world, please visit msf.org.uk to make a donation. Thank you.

Presented by Amber Dowell

Sound production and editing by Sandy McKee

Written and produced by Kate Lee

Series production by Mark Lankester

Photo: MSF

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In almost any humanitarian crisis – from disease outbreaks to conflict zones – children are among the most vulnerable. Last year alone, almost half of all patients admitted to MSF hospitals around the world were children under the age of five.

But, while access to medical care is absolutely essential, for our youngest patients, there is something else that improves their health, promotes recovery and helps them develop: play.

In this episode of Everyday Emergency, we speak to Katherine Haciömeroğlu. She is a child life specialist who has been working with MSF teams around the world to harness the power of play and help children living through healthcare crises to access the benefits of this perhaps unexpected humanitarian work.

If you would like to support our life-saving medical work around the world, please visit msf.org.uk to make a donation. Thank you.

Presented by Amber Dowell

Edited by Sandy McKee

Photo: MSF

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The artist and political cartoonist Ella Baron has recently returned from Ukraine, where she worked with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) patients to create a series of drawings and interviews about their experiences.

The patients ranged from young men injured in drone attacks to grandmothers who have lost their homes and loved ones. The images go beyond simple portraits to explore the physical and emotional impact of the war.

With the works now on display in a public exhibition at Kings College in London, Ella joins us for a special episode. Ella was in Ukraine on assignment for the Guardian, where her drawings were originally published.

MSF teams were already working in Ukraine at the time of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Since then we have expanded our operations to cover mobile clinics, surgery, and mental health support.

If you would like to support our life-saving medical work around the world, please visit msf.org.uk to make a donation. Thank you.

Presented by Amber Dowell

Sound production and editing by Sandy McKee

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.