Lesław Niebrój Introduction. Why debate on unemployment in "Eukrasia" There are at least three reasons which justify dedication of the present volume of “Eukrasia” to the problem of unemployment. Firstly, it is, within the literature, well proven that unemployment plays a very important role in human health. But, secondly, the same literature seems to reduce the problem of unemployment only to its economical dimensions. The third reason why the problem of the relation of unemployment to the health care is undertaken in this volume is the specific situation in Poland. The literature review proves that there is a relationship between unemployment and the risk of its occurrence and development of both physical as well as mental diseases [1]. But it is proven also that the impact of unemployment on the health status depends of factors related to the very character of unemployment itself (short - /long - term unemployment, unemployment experienced during the time of economical development or in the stage of economical stagnation), social status of people it experiencing and system of culture they live in. The problem of relation between unemployment and health care seems to be so complex that – probably from methodological reasons – it is often reduced to its economical dimension only. There is no doubt that unemployment status could be listed as a very important factor influencing the economical status both of a particular person as well as the whole societies in which it occurs. It is well known that economic development results in the improvement of health care [2]. There are very clear reasons why the influence of economical consequences of unemployment on health status is and should be investigated very carefully. But it does not mean that the role which unemployment plays in the human health should be reduced to such a dimension only. Work is much more that the source of economical income for a man. It could be seen as a factor of both individual as well as social development of a human person. In consequence unemployment could be recognized as a situation in which such development becomes extremely difficult or even impossible. When taking into account the World Health Organization’s definition of “health”, could it permit us to recognize unemployment as a disease? The situation in Poland regarding unemployment is very particular. During the communist regime (1944-1989) there were not, at least officially, any unemployed people. But these did not occur as a result of economic strength of the country but rather because of the fact that there were created fictitious posts of work, which served only to hide the problem of unemployment and – in fact - underdevelopment of the country. It seems reasonable to accept that during this - over forty year – period Poles have lost the ability how to handle unemployment. The process of political and economical transformations which started in 1989, has led to the situation when ‘unprepared’ Polish society must deal with an enormous, both in its quantitative as well qualitative dimension, problem of unemployment. According to the data obtained by Polish Central Statistical Office [3], unemployment rate amounts to 20.7% in February, 2003. Also, in August 2004 this rate decreased (19.1%), it seems to be too early to speak about the possibility to resolve the problem of unemployment in Poland in the near future. As the editor of the present 5th issue of “Eukrasia” I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the contributions made to this publication by a number of people and institutions. First of all, I wish to thank all the Authors who have contributed to this volume. I am indebted to the full of insight comments of Tomasz Irzyniec PhD, MD., the reviewer of this volume. I would also like to express my gratitude to the staff at Wydawnictwo ŚAM, who have given me ongoing support and understanding.   [1] Niebrój L., Bezrobocie i zagrożenia zdrowia: kierunki badań, Ann Univ Mariae Curie Sklodowska [Med] 2000/Vol. LV Suppl.VII, s. 173-176; available at: http://www.neurocentrum.pl/biblioteka/zagrozenie_zdrowia/lniebroj.doc [2] Feachem R.G.A., Globalisation is good for your health, mostly, BMJ 2001; 323: 504-506 [3] Central Statistical Office, Selected indexes of the economic situation of the country, available at: http://www.stat.gov.pl/english/index.htm

To cite this article: Niebrój L., Introduction. Why debate on unemployment in "Eukrasia", [in:] Niebrój L., Kosińska M., Unemployment and Health Care, Katowice: Wyd. SAM 2004, p. 15-16