Medicines quality assurance
Quality assurance is a wide-ranging concept covering all matters that individually or collectively influence the quality of a product. With regard to pharmaceuticals, quality assurance can be divided into major areas: development, quality control, production, distribution, and inspections. The Medicines Quality Assurance Programme, which is part of Quality and Safety: Medicines of the Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies Department ,contributes to public health by enabling quality medicines to reach patients through:

• Developing norms, standards and guidelines for quality assurance developing
• The International Pharmacopoeia
• Establishing International Chemical Reference Substances (ICRS)
• Collaborating with numerous stakeholders
• Providing country support