Hearing loss is a chronic and often lifelong disability that can cause profound damage to the development of speech, language, and cognitive skills in children, especially when commencing before the critical period of language development in infancy. That damage, in turn, affects the child's progress in school and, later, his or her ability to obtain, keep, and perform an occupation. In addition to its effects on individuals, data from several countries indicate that hearing loss has huge economic consequences. Thus, prevention of hearing loss, as well as being socially and morally justifiable, makes substantial economic sense as well.