Foreign Aid Cuts Halt Migrant and Refugee Health Project in Peru

After a year of planning, everything was ready. The proposal, the team, the implementation plan, the patients. Socios En Salud (SES)—as Partners In Health is known in Peru—had been working alongside local and international partners to build VENSALUD: a project designed to serve thousands of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Lima and Callao.

The ambitious proposal included mobile clinics, telemedicine, community screenings, social cohesion spaces, educational campaigns, and referral pathways to the national health system to support the well-being of Venezuelan migrants and refugees. For SES, VENSALUD wasn't just about filling a gap, but about building a bridge to a more equitable health system for those who are almost always left out.

The goal of VENSALUD was to directly reach 7,486 people in Lima and Callao with medical care, health education, and community engagement opportunities.  

“To sustain the project beyond the initial funding from the United States government, the project would also train health care personnel, promote integration between migrants and host communities, and establish institutional networks,” said Santiago Palomino, head of the Noncommunicable Diseases program at SES.

But then, the Trump administration announced drastic cuts to foreign aid, and the project was halted before it could even begin.

In mid-2025, the U.S. Department of State, through its Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), decided not to renew funding for VENSALUD. A single document—an omission from the list of approved grants—was enough to dismantle more than a year of planning.  

The program, ready to serve an often-overlooked community, was immediately frozen.

This loss of funding wasn't simply an institutional loss for SES. The suspension—which represents a miniscule portion of the billions of dollars removed from foreign aid all over the world—meant an interruption to addressing the urgent needs of a highly vulnerable population in Peru. With the loss of just one program, health care, for thousands, once again became a distant promise.

Designed to Meet an Urgent Need

There are over 1.5 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Peru. More than 65% are women, many of whom are of reproductive age or have children and families to support. The figures reveal a highly precarious situation: one in four migrants with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) suffer from hypertension, and more than 68% of these cases do not receive treatment and can turn fatal.  

The mental health of this migrant community is also a concern. Regional studies show that between 20% and 60% of Venezuelan migrants and refugees experience symptoms of anxiety or depression, exacerbated by discrimination, economic insecurity, and the constant fear of deportation. Without access to comprehensive health care services, these conditions will continue to cause unnecessary, preventable suffering.  

For sexual and reproductive health, SES found that the gaps in care were also severe. Pregnant migrant and refugee women accessed, on average, only 3.7 prenatal checkups—less than half of what is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). VENSALUD's proposal included mobile clinics, rights-based educational campaigns, and targeted family planning services specifically for young women in vulnerable situations.

In response to these realities, VENSALUD planned mental health screenings for more than 2,900 people, as well as comprehensive health assessments—including screenings for NCDs and sexual and reproductive health checks—for more than 3,200 more.  

“These clinical actions would be complemented by community interventions designed to reduce migration stress, support prevention campaigns, and provide access to specialized care,” Palomino said.

A Remedy, Disrupted

With over a million dollars in funding initially allocated by the U.S. government, VENSALUD incorporated international models such as HEARTS—a strategic approach to improving cardiovascular health recommended by the WHO—and Invested in Diabetes—a study comparing standardized and patient-driven shared medical appointments for people with diabetes. These models were then adapted to the realities of the migrant population through a multidisciplinary approach, even providing lifesaving services through shared telemedicine appointments.

The project also went beyond the clinic. It brought together a diverse institutional ecosystem: units of the Ministries of Health in North, Central, and South Lima; local organizations; and local governments in three key districts: Independencia, Los Olivos, and San Martín de Porres.

“It was designed to be a vehicle for social integration,” Palomino said. “It included migrant-led communication campaigns, community spokespeople, and media actions to counter xenophobia.”

The cancellation of VENSALUD’s funding—implemented by the Trump administration—had an impact beyond the patients as well. As Diana Huamán, project coordinator at SES, explained: the cutoff meant the immediate dismissal of key personnel, including migrant professionals who were also in vulnerable situations. Jobs, care, and support all vanished in an instant.

Moreover, contracts with suppliers were terminated, procurement was halted, and institutional coordination with the Ministry of Health and municipalities was broken.  

“Purchasing processes were abruptly interrupted, and in several cases, contracts had to be terminated,” Huamán said. “The relationship built with the [Ministry of Health] was affected, given the cancellation of joint activities.”

Had it been able to progress, the project would’ve also trained 60 healthcare professionals in NCD care and 120 people in health advocacy, established citizen participation spaces with 450 people, and conducted cultural interventions with more than 700 community members.

A year of planning and preparation was undermined by individuals thousands of miles away, who don’t have to bear the consequences.

A History of Success

This was not the first time Socios En Salud was focused on the urgent health needs of migrant and refugee communities. In the past several years, SES has implemented a series of humanitarian health projects with international partners, creating successful, replicable models for urban migrant contexts in Peru.

Between 2021 and 2023, also with funding from the PRM, SES deployed a mobile health program in Lima that provided comprehensive care for tuberculosis, COVID-19, mental health, and sexual health. Initially designed to reach 10,000 people, the project ultimately served 14,600, increasing its monthly reach sixfold in just six months.

In collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the U.S. CDC, SES also led the first bio-behavioral study on HIV and syphilis among Venezuelan migrants in Peru, testing more than 6,600 individuals and successfully linking hundreds of confirmed cases to treatment in the public health system.

Other initiatives included cash transfer programs with UNAIDS and the Global Fund, clinical and social support for migrants living with HIV, and, most recently, community health campaigns that continue to serve hundreds of migrants in Lima and Callao. In 2024, SES even secured new PRM funding for a two-year program (2025–2026) to strengthen Peru’s national health system through integrated services for noncommunicable diseases, mental health, and sexual and reproductive health.

This track record demonstrates that SES not only had the readiness and partnerships to carry out VENSALUD, but also the proven capacity to deliver impact at scale for highly vulnerable populations. However, even this wasn’t enough to protect this project from the widespread funding cuts this year.

Still Pursuing the Right to Health

Despite this interruption from the PRM, SES remains committed to carrying out the mission of this project—with or without support from the U.S. government. The organization continues to actively seek new funding and partnerships with public and private partners to resume the path it had already carved out, in service of the thousands of Venezuelan migrants and refugees living in Peru.  

VENSALUD was not just a project put on hold—but the real possibility that health care would cease to be an exception for migrants and refugees and become an accessible, sustained guarantee.

The plans were ready. The need was clear. Yet, without reliable funding, the work remains to be done.