Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, until what date HIV positive status was a bar to military service; on what evidence was that bar to military service based; and if he will make a statement.

On 21 June 2022, the HIV positive status bar was lifted with amendments being made to the Joint Service Manual of Medical Fitness (Leaflet 6-7-7 of Joint Service Publication 950).

The original policy and its amendment were based on specialist medical opinion. This included consideration of the risk to the individual if they were denied essential medication or access to specialist medical services due to operational circumstances; the risk to everyone operating in the military exposure prone environment in the UK and overseas; and the cost-benefit of training an individual with a chronic medical condition, that would previously have attracted career restrictions in a fixed liability organisation.