The Jan 26 edition of The Lancet (esteemed British medical journal) contains an editorial that argues that oral contraceptive pills (Known as OCPs in medical/gynecological circles, known as “the pill” in most circles) should be sold without a prescription (known as "over the counter"-OTC in medical-pharmacological jargon). They apparently base this argument on a recent study by Dr. Valerie Beral and her colleagues that claims that OCPs prevent more cancer than they cause.

Dr Beral’s study is presented in the same issue of The Lancet. They claim that OCPs have already prevented 200,000 ovarian cancers and 100,000 deaths worldwide.

In the past, OCPs had been associated with  an increase in breast and uterine cancers.  In the 80s and 90s, estrogen-progesterone doses and ratios in OCPs ware adjusted to reduce these risks.

“The protection from ovarian cancer is greater than the risk of other cancers associated with use of the Pill, such as breast and cervical malignancies”  Beral said.

This change in policy could go a long way towards capping the world's population growth at 9,000,000,000 people by 2050 as many of us would like to see.

It remains to be seen whether any increase in STDs (such as HIV) subsequent to increased promiscuity might offset the overall mortality benefit related to the decrease in ovarian cancer…

US News