`I thought I was going to die, but I was happy. For the first time

With the help of Maria's campaigning, combination therapies were finally introduced at the prison in 1996. Her health improved, and she was released in 1997. She is now 37, lives in West London with her new partner, who is also infected with HIV, and despite bouts of illness, she has adjusted back into "everyday" life.

"Since 1994, British Aids death rates have fallen 73 per cent," says Dr Barry Evans of the UK Public Health Laboratory Service. "Combination therapy is not a cure or an easy answer, but the massive reduction in deaths has been great news."

There are growing numbers of people facing huge debts. "There has been a definite increase in the numbers of people seeking advice about money problems from the Terrence Higgins Trust over the past two years," says Cathy Kane, THT's welfare advice manager. "HIV is still a very serious illness which leaves many people too ill to work, and benefits are becoming increasingly hard for even sick people to obtain."

Survivors have to find a way forward. Maria now works for the prison where she was an inmate, translating reports of treatments for HIV and Aids. Mark has a new job. "People freak out about deadlines and are not enjoying their lives. It's as if I've been given a glimpse of what really matters."

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