infection prevention products, pharmaceuticals, drug delivery systems, dental and orthodontic products, health information systems and microbiology products. As discussed below, the global branded pharmaceuticals business was sold in December 2006 and January 2007.

In total, the combination of the following items positively impacted total year 2006 Health Care operating income by $673 million, primarily in the fourth quarter of 2006. As discussed in Note 2, in early December 2006, the Company sold its branded pharmaceuticals business in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia and South Africa. The Company also sold its branded pharmaceuticals business in the United States, Canada and Latin America in late December 2006. The operating income gain related to this sale, which is included in Health Care, totaled $1.074 billion. In addition, as discussed in Note 4, the Health Care segment for the year 2006 included $293 million in restructuring costs, primarily employee-related severance and benefit costs. Of the $293 million, $166 million was related to the pharmaceuticals business and $15 million related to Health Care severance and other costs. In addition, $112 million of severance and benefit costs were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2006 related to worldwide staff overhead reduction actions taken to streamline the Company’s cost structure in response to the sale of 3M’s branded pharmaceuticals business. The Health Care business is being charged with these overhead costs until such overhead costs are reduced to zero through various restructuring actions. These costs will reduce cash flows in 2007 when the related severance is paid. Health Care also included $95 million of expensed in-process research and development costs related to the Brontes acquisition and $13 million in environmental reserves related to the pharmaceuticals business.

In 2006, Health Care sales were $4.011 billion. Organic local-currency growth was 5.3%, with acquisitions adding an additional 0.7% of growth. Local-currency growth was led by the medical supplies and dental businesses. 3M’s pharmaceutical business was approximately 19% of Health Care sales in 2006. Pharmaceutical local-currency sales declined 3.5% in 2006, while the remaining businesses’ 2006 local-currency sales growth increased 8.5%. Geographically, Health Care’s local-currency sales growth in dollars was strongest in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific areas. Operating income for 2006 was up 65.6%, impacted by the gain on sale of our branded pharmaceuticals business, restructuring impacts and other items as discussed in the preceding paragraph, which positively impacted operating income growth by 60.4%.

In 2005, Health Care reported local-currency sales growth of 4.2%. 3M’s core medical and dental businesses and health information systems businesses experienced local-currency sales growth of approximately 6%. The strength of these businesses helped overcome the sales growth challenges of the pharmaceutical business. Sales of certain products within 3M’s pharmaceuticals business, primarily comprised of prescription drugs for inhalation, women’s health, and cardiovascular conditions,