Facial masks actually does pretty little against things like avian flu - it is a dangerous assumption to assume that they help prevent the spread of flu. If it was so good, why don't we make our young and elderly wear facial masks during the flu season? Ok, a pandemic grade flu is a little different, but the mechanisms of infection are similar. It's not just about pronounciation - communication is visual, I should know, I'm deaf. There's more than 9 million people in the UK who have problems with hearing, and that figure is rising, and it is not always easy to ask them to remove the veil, especially in a public place.