Aptitude militaire en allergologie

Evaluation of fitness for military duty is complex and depends on the type of army and the specific tasks concerned. It is regulated by laws unique to each country. In France, the medical conditions governing military fitness-for-duty evaluation are defined in a medical profile, the SIGYCOP, which is designed to assess the compatibility of an individual's state of health with the professional requirements of army service. A candidate's fitness for duty is assessed by a military practitioner, who is the only person fully aware of the realty of requirements for the various operations and assignments involved. This evaluation concerns not only medical status but also the degree of risk to individuals and groups. Evaluation of fitness for duty is thus designed to ensure that the health status of candidates does not place either themselves or their comrades at risk. Many allergic or immunologic disorders can result in a candidate being unfit for duty. The purpose of this review is to provide civilian allergists with a global overview of the French legal regulations governing fitness for military duty to enable them on the one hand to advise young adults with allergies wishing to enter the army, and on the other, to work more closely with their military counterparts.