dispensed, as well as insufficient communication have a considerable impact on national mortality and morbidity rates. therefore, the safe and appropriate use of medicines, which depends on the right information being available to those that need it, is as important as product quality. in order to face this challenge while taking into account current constraints on public health budgets and social inequality in access to healthcare, the european committee on pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical care (cd-p-ph), which is co-ordinated by the edqm, oversees the work of experts in three main areas: the classification of medicines authorised in europe into prescription and non-prescription medicines: although the responsibility for classifying medicines lies with the individual member state, the cd-p-ph issues classification recommendations. these recommendations may also cover medicines that are not licensed for use in the eu, since the edqm has a broader membership and cd-p-ph members include representatives of member states that are not part of the eu. the recommendations are updated annually and published on the edqm's website. the edqm also hosts the publicly available melclass database, which presents the classification status of medicines in ph. eur. member states. setting quality and safety standards in pharmaceutical practices and pharmaceutical care: public authorities and the pharmaceutical industry devote much of their resources to ensuring the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines. however, the best treatment outcomes are only achieved when medicines are used safely and appropriately. the cd-p-ph develops scientific indicators to measure the quality of pharmaceutical care in europe, a concept defined as “the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient’s quality of life”. the indicators developed by the edqm provide practical information that is of use to policymakers and professional associations on a daily basis, helping to make healthcare systems more responsible and cost-effective. preventing and managing risks posed by falsified medical products: falsified medical products pose a growing and real threat to public health in europe and world-wide. falsified medicines and medical devices may contain poor quality ingredients, the wrong dosage of an active substance, a different active substance or even a poisonous substance, they may be deliberately mislabelled or have fake packaging or ingredients. to combat this problem, the council of europe established the medicrime convention (cets no. 211), the first international treaty to criminalise the falsification of medical products and similar crimes with a view to protecting public health. the convention entered into force on 1 january 2016. activities related to patient and consumer protection blood transfusion the work of the edqm in the area of blood transfusion is co-ordinated by the european committee on blood transfusion (cd-p-ts), which consists of representatives from authorities working in the field of blood transfusion or at national blood establishments (bes) from member states of the council of europe and observers such as the european commission, who, the usfda and the council of europe's committee on bioethics (dh-bio). these experts work together on the ethical, legal and organisational aspects of blood transfusion with a view to ensuring quality, increasing availability, avoiding wastage, ensuring optimal use of blood supplies and analysing the possible ethical and organisational impact of new scientific developments. one outcome of this work, the “guide to the preparation, use and quality assurance of blood components”, provides recommendations on blood collection, blood components, technical procedures, transfusion practices and quality systems for bes. through its blood proficiency testing scheme and blood quality management programme the committee helps council of europe member states improve their blood transfusion services, ensuring the transfer of knowledge and expertise through training and networking and the monitoring of practices in europe. they also assess epidemiological risks, in particular those related to the emergence of new infectious agents transmissible by blood transfusion. organ, tissue and cell transplantation the work of the council of europe in the area of organ, tissue and cell transplantation began in 1987. the guiding principles for the edqm's activities in this area are ensuring human dignity, maintaining and fulfilling human rights and fundamental freedoms, non-commercialisation of substances of human origin and protecting donors and recipients of organs, tissues and cells. this latter principle is fulfilled by improving and promoting strict standards for quality and safety in order to protect not only the donor and recipient, but also the precious donated organ/tissue itself. the european committee on organ transplantation (cd-p-to) is the steering committee in charge of transplantation activities). this committee consists of representatives from member states of the council of europe, and observers including the european commission, who, the dh-bio, eurotransplant, scandiatransplant, the european society for organ transplantation (esot), the transplantation society (tts), the european association of tissue and cells banks (eatcb), the european eye bank association (eeba), the european society of human reproduction and embryology (eshre) and the world marrow donor association (wmda). it actively promotes the non-commercialisation of donation, the fight against organ/tissue and cell trafficking and the development of ethical, quality and safety standards in the field of organ, tissue and cell transplantation. an important part of the cd-p-to's work is the development and publication of two major guides: the “guide to the quality and safety of organs for transplantation” and the “guide to the quality and safety of tissues and cells for human application”. the edqm organises a european day for organ donation and transplantation (eodd) together with a different member state every year, to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation and transplantation in its member states and to encourage public debate and reflection on this life-saving therapy. cosmetics and food contact materials since 1 january 2009, the edqm has worked on strengthening consumer health protection in europe, with a focus on the safe use and quality of cosmetics and materials and articles in contact with foodstuffs. the european committee on cosmetics and consumer health (cd-p-cos) is tasked with responding to emerging risks for health arising from the use of cosmetics. by promoting the principles laid down in council of europe resolution resap(2008)1 on requirements and criteria for the safety of tattoos and permanent make-up, the committee also works to ensure the safety of these products. activities on the work programme focus on fostering collaboration between member states and observers. the cd-p-cos oversees the european network of official cosmetics control laboratories (occls). this network was established in 2010 to maximise the efficiency of cosmetics surveillance by strengthening cross-border collaboration and pooling resources to perform europe-wide market surveillance studies. several control laboratories in asia also take part. in addition to market surveillance studies, network activities include analytical development, pts studies and the implementation of harmonised quality management systems. priority is given to testing products that may present a health risk for consumers, either linked to the presence of prohibited or restricted substances (according to eu legislation) or trace metals. the network also publishes test methods after performing inter-laboratory trials to confirm that these methods are fit for purpose. the european committee for food contact materials and articles (cd-p-mca) is tasked with developing and strengthening harmonised measures that supplement eu and national legislation to ensure the safety of packaging, containers, utensils and other materials and articles for food contact. it is supported by two subordinate bodies: the working group on food contact materials made from paper and board and the working group on printed food contact materials. the technical guides published by the cd-p-mca are used as reference documents by manufacturers and other business operators, safety evaluators and control laboratories.