SvenskaYou have the right to work with or study whatever you want, with a few exceptions. You do not usually have to tell your employer that you are living with HIV, but for some professions you may have to fill in a health declaration. Your HIV status should not affect whether you get the job or not. You don’t have to tell colleagues.
People living with HIV are not allowed to become pilots, police officers or military personnel. In the case of the Armed Forces, persons with an illness or diagnosis requiring continuous medication may not undertake basic training with compulsory military service. According to the Armed Forces, this is because their medical assessment criteria do not permit medication in order to cope with a potential war and also because the Armed Forces cannot guarantee that soldiers or sailors who are dependent on medication can receive it. However, you can apply for civilian jobs in the Armed Forces. In order to work in the Armed Forces, you must undergo a security clearance that requires you to declare whether you are taking any medication that may affect your service, but you may not need to declare the nature of the illness.
If you already have a military job in the Armed Forces and contract HIV, it is up to the head of your unit to decide and assess whether/how it might affect your service.
The Swedish Police Authority does not allow people living with HIV to become police officers. If you are already working as a police officer when you contract HIV, your employer may decide to reassign you if it is judged that your diagnosis is not compatible with the work you were doing before contracting HIV.
To become a pilot, a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Medical Certificate Class 1 is required. You cannot obtain one if you are living with HIV. EASA is Europe’s common aviation safety and security authority that sets the rules for who can become a pilot. According to the Swedish Transport Agency (April 2022), EASA has announced its intention to revise the regulatory framework for HIV but has not stated when this will be done.
People contracting HIV who are already trained pilots and have a commercial pilot’s license may be allowed to continue working. According to the Swedish Transport Agency, in these cases an individual assessment is carried out and an OML (operational multi-crew limitation license) is issued. OML means that you can only fly multi-pilot systems, in other words with a co-pilot.
- Within HIV care
- Support and counselling
- For healthcare visits and treatments outside of HIV care
- For people who are or want to become parents
- For children and adolescents
- During studies and at work
- For people with sickness compensation (formerly known as early retirement)
- For people who do not have a residence permit in Sweden
- When travelling abroad
- When having sex
- When taking out insurance
- HIV related to laws and crimes
