THE Catholic Church should supply nuns with the oral contraceptive pill to reduce their higher risk of ovarian and uterine cancer, Australian researchers say.

Kara Britt, from Monash University, and Roger Short, from Melbourne University, said studies showed nuns and other women who did not have children faced a higher risk of breast and endometrial cancers as they experienced more menstrual cycles than women who stopped menstruating during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Illustration by Cathy Wilcox.

One study of 31,000 American nuns found their risk of dying from breast, ovarian and uterine cancer over the age of 80 was more than double the risk for other similarly aged women.

They also faced a higher risk of dying from breast and uterine cancer during their 70s, compared with other women.