3M Health Care has been honoured for its sterilisation business at a recent awards ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee.

The company was given the 2009 GHX Best in Class Award in recognition of its annual share growth in the field of distribution, beating a number of its rivals to take the accolade.

Commenting, 3M Health Care's global marketing manager for sterilisation assurance John Slavsky said the win was a great achievement for the firm and represented the work it had done to ensure its customers needs in this area were best served.

"In addition, we're pleased that our educational support platform assists customers in understanding the science, data and standards behind sterilisation monitoring to minimise the risk of [hospital-acquired infections]," he concluded.

GHX Market Intelligence general manager Ed McCauley explained the firm had seen growth of 7.33 per cent last year, despite the current economic climate.