Kerman University of Medical Sciences International Journal of Health Policy and Management 2322-5939 15 1 2026 12 01 Paying Attention – and Respect – to the Agency of Conflict-Affected Health Workers; Comment on “Human Resources for Health in Conflict Affected Settings: A Scoping Review of Primary Peer Reviewed Publications 2016–2022” 1 4 4839 10.34172/ijhpm.9580 EN Enrico Pavignani Institute for Law, Politics and Development (DIRPOLIS), Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy Journal Article 2025 11 05 The review stands out for its methodological rigour, clear results, and frank recognition of its limitations. However, the picture proposed by it is incomplete. Two aspects of great consequence are discussed in this commentary as a complement to the review. First, the political agency of human resources for health (HRHs) must always be considered. Among them, many take sides in a variety of roles, overt or not, as militants, activists, supporters, and researchers. Second, without including the informal practices adopted by HRH to survive and deliver in hostile environments, the health labour market cannot be understood. Arguably, these two key dimensions were not prominent in the review because the HRH literature prefers to focus on formal technical aspects easier to study and more likely to be published. Some of the reasons behind their neglect are suggested by this commentary, which concludes with a few remarks about how this drawback might be corrected.

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