International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Changing Wars, Changing Lenses: Understanding Human Resources for Health in Conflict-Affected Settings; Comment on “Human Resources for Health in Conflict Affected Settings: A Scoping Review of Primary Peer Reviewed Publications 2016–2022”

Articles in Press

Document Type : Commentary

Author
Jean-Benoît Falisse
Centre of African Studies, School of Social and Political Science, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Abstract
Onvlee and colleagues’ review of human resources for health (HRH) in conflict-affected settings (CAS), together with the commentaries engaging it, invites closer attention to how the dynamics of conflict shape HRH. This commentary asks how that attention can be operationalised. First, I argue that conflict studies, political science, and political economy offer complementary tools: conflict typologies show who fights whom and across which borders, and therefore who employs, regulates, and protects health workers; theories of wartime violence show where health workers can work and whom they can reach; political settlements analysis shows who decides on pay, deployment, and recognition; and attention to the stage of conflict shows whether windows for reform open at all. Second, drawing on the limited-statehood and “liminal health system” literatures, I argue that cross-border arrangements for training, recognising, and deploying health workers are structural features of HRH: what the health labour market (HLM) framework records as “outflow” is often a reorganisation of the workforce.

Keywords
Health Workforce
Conflict-Affected Settings
Political Economy
Cross-Border Health Systems
Limited Statehood
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International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Articles in Press, Corrected Proof
Available Online from 17 October 2026

  • Received Date 14 May 2026
  • Revised Date 06 October 2026
  • Accepted Date 09 October 2026
  • First Published Date 17 October 2026
  • Published Date 17 October 2026