Child abuse causes not only death and direct injury but an incredible amount of misery -- addictions, chronic depression, pain and unhappiness. Is child abuse in all its forms not a nasty form of societal cancer? If it is, why is there no sign of prevention?

Even in this age of communication, many parents feel isolated, adding stress and making abuse less likely to be detected. A high- risk family should have close followup from public health nurses or social workers. And any parent under stress should be able to call a toll-free number and get immediate support from a volunteer or professional either on the phone or with a house call.

To say we can't afford it is total rubbish because we are already pouring millions into the medical, legal and welfare systems to patch up the results of abuse and family violence. Abuse victims have a lot of medical symptoms, costing money to test and treat -- and they often abuse their kids, too. They are off work a lot - if they can work at all.