The author notes that the papers and the entire process of child fatality review provide an opportunity to develop preventive interventions that, if implemented, would presumably reduce the number of children who die in similar circumstances in the future. Infants are at greatest risk; caretakers are most often responsible for the abuse or neglect; professional agencies have often had some contact with the families; and there are neighborhood and ethnic variations in rates and risk of fatality. Simple measures such as the institution of smoke detectors, education programs in the context of a program of parent education, and the institution of various types of home visitation programs are a few of the suggestions from these papers. Most societies have done a much better job of identifying problems and increasing public and professional awareness of them than they have in planning and implementing solutions. This is the next challenge for all who work in this field. 6 references