Debate decided. The Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu announced on Monday, May 8, to end the "criterion of discrimination by principle" which prohibited HIV-positive people from becoming soldiers, and joining the army, the gendarmerie or certain fire brigades.
The minister said this Monday on France 2: "I have taken an order that will review all the criteria of aptitude to enter the armed forces," he said, adding that "the health service of the armed forces had some fears for our soldiers who served in foreign operations" and who had HIV.
After working with associations, including Aides, which Lecornu welcomed, this "discriminating" criterion has been lifted and the decree will be published in the coming days. The associations had long defended that the arrival of triple therapy fifteen years ago had made the medical reference system of the armed forces unadapted to the reality of the disease.
Read alsoWhy can HIV-positive people still not join the army?
The ban had been in place since the 1980s, when the disease first appeared. At the end of November 2022, it was lifted for the police. In a letter sent on May 2, Gérald Darmanin had proposed to Sébastien Lecornu to do the same for armies and military corps. In a tweet, the interior minister welcomed the decision "to end this unfair ban" on Monday.
Thank you to @SebLecornu for responding to my proposal and thus allowing HIV-positive people to join the ranks of the @Gendarmerie and the military firefighters. It was time to end this unjust ban. https://t.co/u3OED1drFE
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) May 8, 2023
The latest scientific studies show that HIV-positive people on antiretroviral therapy have an undetectable viral load and do not transmit HIV.