Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2023 to Question HL8900, on Armed Forces: HIV Infection, what the evidential basis is for precluding individuals with HIV from serving in Aircrew and Controller roles.

Defence Aviation Medicine specialists completed a comprehensive, evidenced based review on HIV, its impact, prognosis, and treatment. Recent policy changes in civil aviation were considered in the formulation of the policy regarding HIV and the Aircrew profession, which was endorsed by a tri-Service committee comprised of medical specialists. The Chief Medical Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Senior Medical Officer of the National Air Traffic Control Service are members of this committee to ensure appropriate benchmarking of military aviation medicine policy against civilian standards. The policy, which was accepted and endorsed by aviation medical professionals and duty risk holders, is aligned with extant and long-standing aviation risk parameters.