Questões de Inglês

Evolution Of Health Services And Health Policy In Ireland

Brian Harvey 

Context and overview 

Health services in Ireland began in the 18th century in the voluntary, philanthropic and private sector. Doctors, concerned citizens and philanthropists, motivated by the condition of the sick poor, founded the first hospitals in the 1720s, funding them through legacies, donations and public subscriptions. In the early 19th century, there was a substantial growth in hospital and related services run by Catholic religious orders and lay organisations. In the mid-19th century, the British government introduced the workhouse or poor law system, which provided infirmaries, dispensaries and medical officers to care for the very poor. However, standards were set intentionally low to prevent malingering.

In 1922, the Free State government turned the workhouses into county homes for a wide range of poor people with medical and social needs. Generally, though, health services were not a financial priority in the early years of the state. Instead, public health services were delivered through the local government system until 1970 and funded through lotteries (the hospital sweepstakes). The most significant achievement of the early state was the drive to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) in the late 1940s. The Department of Health was established in 1947. 

By contrast, in Britain, the 1942 Beveridge report (Report on social insurance and allied services) proposed a universal scheme of social insurance and a National Health Service for all citizens, free at the point of use. Impressed by these developments, the Irish government published a white paper, Outline of proposals for the improvement of the health services (1947), proposing a similar health system in Ireland. In a second white paper, Social security (1949), the government proposed a system of universal social insurance. Between them, these white papers set the Republic on course for a welfare state and a universal, national health service. These years thus marked an important turning point in the development of health and social policy in the Irish state.

However, the health proposals foundered on ferocious opposition from the medical profession, the Catholic Church and the Department of Finance. The social insurance proposal also failed, with subsequent governments taking the view that Ireland could not afford a welfare state as extensive as that in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Instead, in both welfare and health policy, successive governments opted for incremental improvements when and as the country could afford them. 

The pattern of a two-tier health service became firmly established. When the medical card system (the General Medical Scheme or GMS) was introduced in 1970, it was on the understanding that coverage would be limited to not more than 40% of the population. (In practice, it has often been much less than that and closer to 30%). For most people, the result was a complex system of subsidised services, state and private health insurance, with payment at most points of use. A state-sponsored health insurance scheme, Voluntary Health Insurance, was introduced in 1957

Available at: . Accessed on: Sept 1st, 2016.

In the early years, the Free State, established in 1922:

Evolution Of Health Services And Health Policy In Ireland

Brian Harvey 

Context and overview 

Health services in Ireland began in the 18th century in the voluntary, philanthropic and private sector. Doctors, concerned citizens and philanthropists, motivated by the condition of the sick poor, founded the first hospitals in the 1720s, funding them through legacies, donations and public subscriptions. In the early 19th century, there was a substantial growth in hospital and related services run by Catholic religious orders and lay organisations. In the mid-19th century, the British government introduced the workhouse or poor law system, which provided infirmaries, dispensaries and medical officers to care for the very poor. However, standards were set intentionally low to prevent malingering.

In 1922, the Free State government turned the workhouses into county homes for a wide range of poor people with medical and social needs. Generally, though, health services were not a financial priority in the early years of the state. Instead, public health services were delivered through the local government system until 1970 and funded through lotteries (the hospital sweepstakes). The most significant achievement of the early state was the drive to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) in the late 1940s. The Department of Health was established in 1947. 

By contrast, in Britain, the 1942 Beveridge report (Report on social insurance and allied services) proposed a universal scheme of social insurance and a National Health Service for all citizens, free at the point of use. Impressed by these developments, the Irish government published a white paper, Outline of proposals for the improvement of the health services (1947), proposing a similar health system in Ireland. In a second white paper, Social security (1949), the government proposed a system of universal social insurance. Between them, these white papers set the Republic on course for a welfare state and a universal, national health service. These years thus marked an important turning point in the development of health and social policy in the Irish state.

However, the health proposals foundered on ferocious opposition from the medical profession, the Catholic Church and the Department of Finance. The social insurance proposal also failed, with subsequent governments taking the view that Ireland could not afford a welfare state as extensive as that in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Instead, in both welfare and health policy, successive governments opted for incremental improvements when and as the country could afford them. 

The pattern of a two-tier health service became firmly established. When the medical card system (the General Medical Scheme or GMS) was introduced in 1970, it was on the understanding that coverage would be limited to not more than 40% of the population. (In practice, it has often been much less than that and closer to 30%). For most people, the result was a complex system of subsidised services, state and private health insurance, with payment at most points of use. A state-sponsored health insurance scheme, Voluntary Health Insurance, was introduced in 1957

Available at: . Accessed on: Sept 1st, 2016.

The first hospitals in Ireland during the 18th century were funded through:

STARSHOT PROJECT: STEPHEN HAWKING AND MARK ZUCKERBERG LAUNCH MOST AMBITIOUS ALIEN-FINDING PROJECT EVER 

[1] Tiny rockets are going to be sent into space to study the far universe in the most ambitious space exploration  

project in history. 

Scientists including Stephen Hawking and backers such as internet investor Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg  

will send "nano craft" deep into space to explore the most remote regions that humans have ever seen, by far. 

[5] The hugely ambitious project could reveal deep secrets of the universe and will allow people to photograph  

one of the most likely places to hold life on other worlds. 

Professor Hawking said at the event: "What makes us unique is transcending our limits. Gravity pins us to the  

ground, but I just flew to America. 

"How do we transcend these limits? With our minds and our machines. 

[10] "The limit that confronts us now is the great void between us and the stars. But now we can transcend it, with  

light beams, light sails, and the lightest spacecraft ever built. Today we commit to this next great leap into the  

cosmos, because we are human and our nature is to fly." 

The Starshot Project hopes to get the tiny robots out to the Alpha Centauri star system, 25 trillion miles away.  

Getting there through normal means would take 30,000 years – but the new project hopes that using the tiny  

[15] rockets will allow them to get there in just 20. 

Scientists think that the Alpha Centauri system might well have an Earth-like planet that could be found in its  

"habitable zones". The craft will be able to take pictures of those – a potential way that they might find life on  

other worlds. 

The crafts will be "gram-scale nano craft", according to Yuri Milner, which will make their way through space  

[20] using a "sail pushed by a light beam". Their design will allow them to fly at 25 per cent of light speed. 

Those craft will be able to send back images of possible planets and other scientific data, according to the  

scientists behind it. 

"The human story is one of great leaps," Dr Milner said. "Today we are preparing for the next great leap – to  

the stars. 

[25] "Can we literally reach the stars, and can we do it in our lifetime?" 

The tiny rockets are made up of computers that can be mounted to a tiny "wafer". Shrinking computer  

components mean that all of the necessary parts – cameras, thrusters, power supply and navigation  

equipment – can all be mounted on a tiny plate that will be a fully functional space probe.]

Before those are built, the project will have to create all of the important parts on the ground. That includes  

[30] the construction of a light-beamer that can power the rockets and a "mothership" that will be able to carry  

them all out into space and launch them. 

Because of economies of scale and the decreasing price of computer components, the team will eventually  

be able to send out the rockets for just a few hundred thousand dollars, they said. 

Fonte: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/starshot-project-stephen-hawking-and-mark-zuckerberg-to-send-tiny-rockets-to-alpha-centauriin-most-a6981101.html (acesso em 03/05/2016).

Na frase "But now we can transcend it, with light beams, light sails, and the lightest spacecraft ever built." (linhas 10 e 11), é correto afirmar que

STARSHOT PROJECT: STEPHEN HAWKING AND MARK ZUCKERBERG LAUNCH MOST AMBITIOUS ALIEN-FINDING PROJECT EVER 

[1] Tiny rockets are going to be sent into space to study the far universe in the most ambitious space exploration  

project in history. 

Scientists including Stephen Hawking and backers such as internet investor Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg  

will send "nano craft" deep into space to explore the most remote regions that humans have ever seen, by far. 

[5] The hugely ambitious project could reveal deep secrets of the universe and will allow people to photograph  

one of the most likely places to hold life on other worlds. 

Professor Hawking said at the event: "What makes us unique is transcending our limits. Gravity pins us to the  

ground, but I just flew to America. 

"How do we transcend these limits? With our minds and our machines. 

[10] "The limit that confronts us now is the great void between us and the stars. But now we can transcend it, with  

light beams, light sails, and the lightest spacecraft ever built. Today we commit to this next great leap into the  

cosmos, because we are human and our nature is to fly." 

The Starshot Project hopes to get the tiny robots out to the Alpha Centauri star system, 25 trillion miles away.  

Getting there through normal means would take 30,000 years – but the new project hopes that using the tiny  

[15] rockets will allow them to get there in just 20. 

Scientists think that the Alpha Centauri system might well have an Earth-like planet that could be found in its  

"habitable zones". The craft will be able to take pictures of those – a potential way that they might find life on  

other worlds. 

The crafts will be "gram-scale nano craft", according to Yuri Milner, which will make their way through space  

[20] using a "sail pushed by a light beam". Their design will allow them to fly at 25 per cent of light speed. 

Those craft will be able to send back images of possible planets and other scientific data, according to the  

scientists behind it. 

"The human story is one of great leaps," Dr Milner said. "Today we are preparing for the next great leap – to  

the stars. 

[25] "Can we literally reach the stars, and can we do it in our lifetime?" 

The tiny rockets are made up of computers that can be mounted to a tiny "wafer". Shrinking computer  

components mean that all of the necessary parts – cameras, thrusters, power supply and navigation  

equipment – can all be mounted on a tiny plate that will be a fully functional space probe.]

Before those are built, the project will have to create all of the important parts on the ground. That includes  

[30] the construction of a light-beamer that can power the rockets and a "mothership" that will be able to carry  

them all out into space and launch them. 

Because of economies of scale and the decreasing price of computer components, the team will eventually  

be able to send out the rockets for just a few hundred thousand dollars, they said. 

Fonte: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/starshot-project-stephen-hawking-and-mark-zuckerberg-to-send-tiny-rockets-to-alpha-centauriin-most-a6981101.html (acesso em 03/05/2016).

Quanto à execução do Projeto Starshot, o texto afirma que

STARSHOT PROJECT: STEPHEN HAWKING AND MARK ZUCKERBERG LAUNCH MOST AMBITIOUS ALIEN-FINDING PROJECT EVER 

[1] Tiny rockets are going to be sent into space to study the far universe in the most ambitious space exploration  

project in history. 

Scientists including Stephen Hawking and backers such as internet investor Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg  

will send "nano craft" deep into space to explore the most remote regions that humans have ever seen, by far. 

[5] The hugely ambitious project could reveal deep secrets of the universe and will allow people to photograph  

one of the most likely places to hold life on other worlds. 

Professor Hawking said at the event: "What makes us unique is transcending our limits. Gravity pins us to the  

ground, but I just flew to America. 

"How do we transcend these limits? With our minds and our machines. 

[10] "The limit that confronts us now is the great void between us and the stars. But now we can transcend it, with  

light beams, light sails, and the lightest spacecraft ever built. Today we commit to this next great leap into the  

cosmos, because we are human and our nature is to fly." 

The Starshot Project hopes to get the tiny robots out to the Alpha Centauri star system, 25 trillion miles away.  

Getting there through normal means would take 30,000 years – but the new project hopes that using the tiny  

[15] rockets will allow them to get there in just 20. 

Scientists think that the Alpha Centauri system might well have an Earth-like planet that could be found in its  

"habitable zones". The craft will be able to take pictures of those – a potential way that they might find life on  

other worlds. 

The crafts will be "gram-scale nano craft", according to Yuri Milner, which will make their way through space  

[20] using a "sail pushed by a light beam". Their design will allow them to fly at 25 per cent of light speed. 

Those craft will be able to send back images of possible planets and other scientific data, according to the  

scientists behind it. 

"The human story is one of great leaps," Dr Milner said. "Today we are preparing for the next great leap – to  

the stars. 

[25] "Can we literally reach the stars, and can we do it in our lifetime?" 

The tiny rockets are made up of computers that can be mounted to a tiny "wafer". Shrinking computer  

components mean that all of the necessary parts – cameras, thrusters, power supply and navigation  

equipment – can all be mounted on a tiny plate that will be a fully functional space probe.]

Before those are built, the project will have to create all of the important parts on the ground. That includes  

[30] the construction of a light-beamer that can power the rockets and a "mothership" that will be able to carry  

them all out into space and launch them. 

Because of economies of scale and the decreasing price of computer components, the team will eventually  

be able to send out the rockets for just a few hundred thousand dollars, they said. 

Fonte: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/starshot-project-stephen-hawking-and-mark-zuckerberg-to-send-tiny-rockets-to-alpha-centauriin-most-a6981101.html (acesso em 03/05/2016).

De acordo com o texto, é correto afirmar que

STARSHOT PROJECT: STEPHEN HAWKING AND MARK ZUCKERBERG LAUNCH MOST AMBITIOUS ALIEN-FINDING PROJECT EVER 

[1] Tiny rockets are going to be sent into space to study the far universe in the most ambitious space exploration  

project in history. 

Scientists including Stephen Hawking and backers such as internet investor Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg  

will send "nano craft" deep into space to explore the most remote regions that humans have ever seen, by far. 

[5] The hugely ambitious project could reveal deep secrets of the universe and will allow people to photograph  

one of the most likely places to hold life on other worlds. 

Professor Hawking said at the event: "What makes us unique is transcending our limits. Gravity pins us to the  

ground, but I just flew to America. 

"How do we transcend these limits? With our minds and our machines. 

[10] "The limit that confronts us now is the great void between us and the stars. But now we can transcend it, with  

light beams, light sails, and the lightest spacecraft ever built. Today we commit to this next great leap into the  

cosmos, because we are human and our nature is to fly." 

The Starshot Project hopes to get the tiny robots out to the Alpha Centauri star system, 25 trillion miles away.  

Getting there through normal means would take 30,000 years – but the new project hopes that using the tiny  

[15] rockets will allow them to get there in just 20. 

Scientists think that the Alpha Centauri system might well have an Earth-like planet that could be found in its  

"habitable zones". The craft will be able to take pictures of those – a potential way that they might find life on  

other worlds. 

The crafts will be "gram-scale nano craft", according to Yuri Milner, which will make their way through space  

[20] using a "sail pushed by a light beam". Their design will allow them to fly at 25 per cent of light speed. 

Those craft will be able to send back images of possible planets and other scientific data, according to the  

scientists behind it. 

"The human story is one of great leaps," Dr Milner said. "Today we are preparing for the next great leap – to  

the stars. 

[25] "Can we literally reach the stars, and can we do it in our lifetime?" 

The tiny rockets are made up of computers that can be mounted to a tiny "wafer". Shrinking computer  

components mean that all of the necessary parts – cameras, thrusters, power supply and navigation  

equipment – can all be mounted on a tiny plate that will be a fully functional space probe.]

Before those are built, the project will have to create all of the important parts on the ground. That includes  

[30] the construction of a light-beamer that can power the rockets and a "mothership" that will be able to carry  

them all out into space and launch them. 

Because of economies of scale and the decreasing price of computer components, the team will eventually  

be able to send out the rockets for just a few hundred thousand dollars, they said. 

Fonte: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/starshot-project-stephen-hawking-and-mark-zuckerberg-to-send-tiny-rockets-to-alpha-centauriin-most-a6981101.html (acesso em 03/05/2016).

De acordo com o texto, o principal objetivo do Projeto Starshot é