Doctor Jane Wynne, a British pediatrician and international figure in child abuse prevention, has died from multisystem failure on 18 June 2009. She worked with fellow Brittons Michael Buchanan and Christopher Hobbs in laying down the corner stone in the establishment against child abuse in the United Kingdom in the 198 s. Their initial attempts to set up a designated centre for the purpose were generally not supported by the medical and political communities. In 1987, 96 of 121 cases of sexual abuse of children diagnosed by two Cleveland pediatricians were dismissed in court and this said something about the general sentiment of the time.

In 1988, Wynne and Hobbs set up the Child Protection Special Interest Group, which was to become the British Association of Community Child Health. Their courses to educate pediatricians and family physicians to diagnose and manage child abuse flourished, so did their various publications. Their work on child abuse was included in one of the bibles of pediatricians: Forfar and Arneil’s Textbook of Pediatrics. Their other textbooks on the diagnosis and management of child abuse have remained classics on the subject for physicians and pediatricians studying the subject and preparing for their specialty exams.

On the political scene, Wynne never held herself back from heated debates regarding this subject dearest to her heart and upset countless people along the way. Some of these dubbed her names like “that bloody Wynne woman”. For those sympathetic to her cause and the children she was able to help, she was “the fearless voice of those who have no voice”.

Dr Jane Wynne was diagnosed as having Parkinson’s disease in 1990. Her health deteriorated. She subsequently suffered heart valve disease and received open heart surgery. She died at the age of 64. Work against child abuse lives on and has been flourishing worldwide over the past three decades.

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Dr Benson Yeung is a surgeon who publishes the popular health info website doctors health tips.