It has often been said that minimizing the health impact of disasters and emergencies is too big a job for the health sector alone.  Achieving this goal requires the commitment and active support of many different agencies, sectors and individuals. It also requires joint training initiatives in a variety of areas that often are still new to the health sector. The involvement of multisector partners will have the value added of gaining buy-in from non-health professionals, who are critical to achieving health sector objectives.