What Flock’s defenders are missing - MIT Technology Review

October 13, 2026Health workers with mothers during an immunization campaign at a primary health center [Image source: HarunaSylvester/Wikimedia Commons]Introduction: Why should we regard health workers as human rights defenders? Health workers—meaning all those who “primarily work with the intent to advance health” such as doctors, nurses and midwives—act as human rights defenders when they ensure that all people, no matter their backgrounds, can benefit from the basic right to appropriate healthcare. They also serve in wider roles as rights defenders, such as in protecting people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights or in supporting those who are experiencing conflict or displacement. Although health workers have long been considered a specially protected group, they continue to be common targets of rights violations. In her April 2025 report to the General Assembly, Tlaleng Mofokeng, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the right to health, argued that health workers are important actors promoting human rights and that they should therefore receive improved protection and support.