--- title: TIME100 Health: Younis R. Awadallah description: Find out why Younis R. Awadallah is on the TIME100 Health 2025 list. canonical: https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2025/7279579/younis-r-awadallah/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-05-08T11:03:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T00:47:56.154Z article:section: Health og:title: TIME100 Health: Younis R. Awadallah og:description: Find out why Younis R. Awadallah is on the TIME100 Health 2025 list. og:url: https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2025/7279579/younis-r-awadallah/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf753224717566a68/6998c657f1b0826c026f14e5/Younis-R.-Awadallah-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME100 Health: Younis R. Awadallah og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: TIME100 Health: Younis R. Awadallah twitter:description: Find out why Younis R. Awadallah is on the TIME100 Health 2025 list. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf753224717566a68/6998c657f1b0826c026f14e5/Younis-R.-Awadallah-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 08, 2025 # Younis R. Awadallah A heroic vaccination campaign by [Orly Halpern](https://time.com/author/orly-halpern/) ## Orly Halpern  Courtesy Unicef Younis R. Awadallah, a doctor who was once UNICEF’s top public health specialist in Gaza, had worked through four previous Israeli military campaigns from 2008 to 2021 before retiring. But after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and Israel’s subsequent assault, he returned to work in January 2024 to lead critical health operations. “This war is like no other,” he says from Gaza, pausing mid-call as bombs fell nearby. “There’s a shortage of supplies, movement, monitoring—everything.” When UNICEF was forced to evacuate from Rafah in southern Gaza, Awadallah found a building in central Gaza with a meat freezer to safely store vaccines. And when a resurgence of polio was detected in Gaza in July, he led a near-impossible campaign: vaccinate nearly 600,000 children across Gaza—twice—despite destroyed roads, drone attacks, and disrupted communications. Awadallah went door-to-door to urge families to vaccinate. Over 90% of children were reached—a massive success by any measure. But even for Awadallah, there are limits to his resourcefulness. Israel has blocked entry of all humanitarian aid for [two months](https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/israel-must-allow-humanitarian-aid-gaza-aid-shipments-have-been-blocked-two-months), and the fourth round of vaccinations is on hold because polio vaccines can’t enter. The health system is crumbling without medicine and medical equipment. “We can’t get supplies. No gauze for wounds. No gloves for surgery,” Awadallah says. “The situation is catastrophic.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2025/7279579/younis-r-awadallah/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2025/7279579/younis-r-awadallah/"},"headline":"Younis R. 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