People with HIV will now be able to join the army. “Regulations are advancing, says Florence Thune, general manager of Sidaction, but false beliefs persist.”
It is “one more step in the fight against discrimination in the workplace”, salutes Monday, April 8 on franceinfo Florence Thune, the general manager of Sidaction, after the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu announced that HIV-positive people will now be able to join the army. The minister has issued an order that will apply to the “gendarmerie, the firefighters of Paris and Marseille, and all the armed forces”. Until now, the medical criteria for aptitude for integration did not allow HIV-positive people to access these professions.
“This type of regulation was no longer valid today”, emphasizes Florence Thune. But she warns about “false beliefs” around the modes of transmission that “last”.
franceinfo: Was it understandable that such a measure still persists?
Florence Thune: It is no longer understandable today. It hadn’t been so for several years already, since for many years, thanks to treatment, we know that not only people living with HIV remain in good health, but in addition they no longer have any risk of transmitting HIV. And these are really important advances. This type of regulation was no longer valid today.
“We already had a first measure which was taken in December for the national police. HIV-positive people could finally join the national police. Now it concerns the armed forces, including the gendarmes, the firefighters of Paris and Marseille .”
Florence Thune, CEO of Sidactionat franceinfo
We are waiting for a measure that would concern non-military firefighters. But it is indeed an important step forward. And this is one more step in the fight against discrimination in the workplace.
Are there still many sectors where this discrimination persists?
We are really in the last bastions. Regulations today cancel each other out. There, it was really among the last professions. But I think that we must also pay attention to discrimination which would be more a matter of beliefs or false information on the transmission of HIV which persists in the professional environment.
Are there many of these beliefs left?
Regulations are advancing but false beliefs persist. People have false information on the modes of transmission, still believe that one can be contaminated by HIV by drinking from the same glass of water of a person, by going to the toilets behind his colleague who is HIV positive. We still face this discrimination. We also see it, especially in the reactions on social networks to these new measures.
“We must continue to fight discrimination among the general population.”
Florence Thune, CEO of Sidactionat franceinfo
Are there still HIV-positive people in the workplace who claim to be ostracized?
It still happens. Today, people make the voluntary choice not to talk about their HIV status, because today they remain in good health and prefer not to have to face this type of discrimination. Unfortunately, we also have it in the health sector, where sometimes people are discriminated against because of their HIV status. Today, we continue to have to inform people about what HIV is today so as not to have this discrimination which is absolutely unbearable for the people concerned.