The Asian Development Bank has called the water and sanitation situation in Asia and the Pacific "a major human tragedy." According to the Bank's 1999 Annual Report, some 830 million people in developing Asia and the Pacific do not have safe drinking water. More than 2 billion lack sanitation facilities. The acute shortages cause high rates of water-borne disease and death, the Bank says. The Bank says these meeting these needs should be one of the highest priorities for concerned governments.