CANBERRA, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Australian have a long life in spite of the highest rate of cancer among members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), according to a new analysis.
A new comparison tool, released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on Tuesday, helps compare key health indicators of OECD member nations.
It revealed that Australia has the second-highest cancer rate within the OECD, behind only Denmark, and the highest rate for men.
However, despite the high incidence of cancer Australia's life expectancy was still above the OECD average.
"The data show that Australia performs relatively well across most of the indicators. For example, Australia has a life expectancy at birth of 82.5 years, above the OECD average of 80.6 years, and the sixth-highest among OECD countries," Claire Sparkle, an AIHW spokesperson, said in a media release on Tuesday.
In addition to cancer, Australia also performed poorly in overweight and obesity, with 63 percent of the population considered overweight or obese compared to the OECD average of 58 percent.
Australian men had the third-highest rate of being overweight or obese (71 percent), behind only the United States and Chile.
According to the tool, Australia's long life expectancy can be attributed to its strong healthcare system.
The average waiting time for most elective surgery procedures in Australia was only 13 days compared to the OECD average of 22 days.
Australia's rate of daily smokers was 12 percent, the sixth-lowest across the OECD and well below the 18 percent average.
Australians consumed more alcohol than average but were also less likely to be injured in a road accident, a category that was topped by New Zealand.
