AUSTRALIA is bucking an international trend in bowel cancer rates. Scientists have found that countries with high economic growth have about six times the number of new bowel cancer cases than very poor countries. But they cannot explain why a country like Australia, with its highly Westernised lifestyle and diet, would go against the trend and show a drop in both incidence and death rates. This decline is emerging in Queensland. 
The disparity is expected to be partly linked to our policies on prevention, early detection and treatment.
The new research printed in the journal Gut was taken from the World Health Organisation's GLOBOCAN database on the numbers of new cases and deaths from the disease in 2012 for 184 countries. Scientists also looked at time trends in 37 countries, using figures from the database as well as 10 volumes of Cancer Incidence in Five -Continents .
International bowel cancer patterns and trends are firmly linked to how well a nation lives. The estimated rates of new cases in 2012 varied from under five per 100,000 of the population in several African countries to more than 40 per 100,000 in certain countries in Europe, Northern America, and Oceania.
Both Australia and New Zealand show falling incidence and death rates.By 2030, new cases are expected to surge to 2.2 million, with an associated death toll of 1.1 million.