Introduction

Since the news of advances in treatments at the World AIDS Conference in Vancouver in 1996, dramatic changes have occurred in the lives of many people with HIV. The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to delay progression of HIV disease and of viral load testing to better monitor disease progression has created new optimism among people living with HIV and their treatment providers alike.

Up until that time services for people with HIV were geared towards benefit maximisation and determining when to retire from work. The first and most important point to make is that not everyone is capable of returning to work and not everyone wants to. There are those however who, upon realising that their new found level of health is lasting and that there is a prospect of a 'future', are starting to think more long term and consequently re-engaging with life. This includes the possibility of returning to work.