In the 19th century, a greater understanding of childrens rights was acknowledged, and in the 20th century, child abuse was discovered in 1962 after many years of turning a blind eye. The number of reported cases of child abuse worldwide has since exploded into a public health epidemic with a much higher incidence than better-funded diseases such as juvenile cancer. The evaluation of child abuse and neglect is complex, with many professionals and agencies involved to try and decrease these incidences. This can be one of the reasons why the field has not been able to attract appropriate resources for prevention, treatment, education and research. Child abuse must be looked upon as a major public health problem, and professionals must make the 21st century a century for the child. In this book, the authors have given a short review of the field.
Donald E. Greydanus Michigan State University/Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
JJoav Merrick, MD, MMedSci, DMSc Professor of Pediatrics at the Division of Pediatrics, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Mt Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, Israel, Kentucky Childrens Hospital, University of Kentucky, Lexington, United States and Professor of Public Health at the Center for Healthy Development, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States, the former Medical Director of the Division for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, Jerusalem and the Founder and Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Israel