Corticosteroids in bacterial meningitis.

compared with men who got jobs; the unemployed men consulted general practitioners 57% more often about 13% more illnesses, were referred to hospital outpatient depart- ments 63% more often, and visited hospital twice as often.'3 These results fit with data from the general household survey showing that men seeking work consult general practitioners 80% more than those in employment, and those who have been out of work for five years or more consult even more often. '" How should health workers respond to this hardening evidence on the harm of unemployment? They must place it before politicians because the appalling human cost of unemployment must not be forgotten in the economic discussions that Worswick's study shows to be less certain than some monetarist economists might pretend.2 Training and temporary employment are crucially important, and the evidence is that the government's employment training scheme is not working well: more than halfofthose completing the scheme are unemployed, three months later.'5 Social security payments should be improved because poverty is one of the main mediators of the damage caused to health by unemployment. Doctors need to be sensitive in their consultations with the unemployed and encourage independence rather than dependence on prescription drugs. Fineman suggests that this may be done in a book published last year. 16 Finally, it may be that the contracts of the new health service could provide mechanisms for responding to the health problems of the unemployed.