# 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"

## TL;DR

This commentary highlights the importance of considering the political roles and informal practices of health workers in conflict zones, which were overlooked in a recent review.

## Contribution

The commentary introduces the need to recognize the political agency and informal survival strategies of health workers in conflict settings.

## Key findings

- Health workers in conflict zones often engage in political roles and activism.
- Informal practices are crucial for health workers to survive and deliver services in hostile environments.
- The literature tends to overlook these aspects due to a focus on formal technical studies.

## Abstract

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.