People depend on vision and hearing to provide the primary cues for conducting the basic activities of daily life. Vision and hearing permit people to navigate and stay oriented within their environment. These senses provide the portals for language, whether spoken, signed, or read. They are critical to most work and recreation and allow people to interact more fully. Moreover, there is reason for encouragement. The Nation's commitment to improving vision and hearing health has led to improved methods of prevention, early detection, treatment, and rehabilitation for diseases and disorders of the eye and ear. Accordingly, the day when no individual's financial security or quality of life will be needlessly reduced by a lack of vision or hearing is closer than ever before.

For these reasons, vision and hearing are defining elements of the quality of life, one of the two overarching Healthy People 2010 goals. Either or both of these senses may be diminished or lost because of heredity, aging, injury, or disease. Such loss may occur at birth, or gradually over the course of a lifetime, or instantaneously due to trauma. Prevention of vision or hearing loss and associated disabling conditions through improved disease prevention, detection, treatment, and rehabilitation methods is a public health priority. Some progress has been made since the launch of Healthy People 2010 in preventing and treating hearing and vision problems. For example, a reduction in the overall cases of blindness and visual impairment in children and adolescents aged 17 years and under occurred in 2003. An increase was noted in infants who received hearing screenings before 1 month of age. However, continuing efforts are needed. Expanded data collection has provided better understanding of the extent of hearing and vision issues in certain populations, including racial and ethnic populations. This understanding, in turn, enables the development of specific programs or initiatives designed to eliminate potential disparities.