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”

Document Type : Commentary

Author
Jean-Benoît Falisse
Centre of African Studies, School of Social and Political Science, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
10.34172/ijhpm.10008
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
Volume 15, Issue 1
2026
Pages 1-4

  • Received Date 14 May 2026
  • Revised Date 06 October 2026
  • Accepted Date 09 October 2026
  • First Published Date 17 October 2026
  • Published Date 01 December 2026