Creator
Pontsho Pilane
Pontsho Pilane is an award-winning journalist interested in health, gender, race and how they intersect. She holds three degrees in media studies and journalism from Wits University
Should we ‘be fruitful and multiply’?
This edited extract from Power and Faith by Ponthso Pilane explores the issues of religion, pregnancy and abortion
A female condom can take sexual pleasure to new heights
Internal condoms not only offer protection, they increase the user’s control and the rings tickle the clitoris and penis
Condom crisis hits safe sex during Covid-19
Pandemic disrupts the supply of external condoms — and inner ones are unknown and in short supply
Greed won’t end the vaccine wars
In the race for a safe and effective vaccine, human rights and honesty should be prioritised above profits, say activists
The high road is in harm reduction
While the restriction of movement curtailed the health services for people who use drugs in some parts of the world, it propelled other countries into finding innovative ways to…
Covid-19 disrupts HIV and TB services
While data is still trickling in on how much the pandemic affects health systems, there are far-reaching consequences for people living with HIV and tuberculosis.
Trump win will abort health care
Threats of funding cuts has caused a reduction in reproductive and sexual health services
Emergency hospital: Gauteng’s potential R500-million albatross
Construction of an emergency Covid-19 hospital is running months behind deadline, promising to come online only after Gauteng’s peak
Covid-19 sets HIV treatment and testing back
Fewer people are getting tested for HIV than last year. People are also battling to access chronic medication. These are some of the lasting effects of the lockdown and the…
Open schools mean full tummies as feeding schemes resume
About four in five learners in the country’s poorest schools rely on the one meal they receive at school, but they weren’t able to get it for more than four months, during which…
Othering fatness: Medical professionals’ negative bias towards fat people jeopardises the quality of care
Pontsho Pilane speaks to three women who have found it difficult to access quality healthcare because of medical professionals’ weight bias
Pandemic profiteering: Activists sound the alarm over Big Pharma
Big Pharma is already showing signs of putting revenue ahead of saving lives in the race to find a Covid-19 vaccine, according to experts
Health workers afraid of passing Covid to family
While nurses bear the brunt of the most psychologically affected of health workers, most are concerned about access to protective supplies
Accessing health and justice in a time of Covid-19
The similarities between the HIV epidemic and the Covid-19 pandemic are hard to ignore – the most obvious is the level of premature deaths caused by both
Forgotten people of Platfontein
Public consultations for the country’s new health Bill show how language barriers can keep healthcare away from those who need it