Title: Impact of economic and educational poverty on disease control in emerging countries

Abstract

Introduction: In Angola, the first cases were identified on March 21, 2020, and projections point to a number close to 28,000 infected people and more than 600 deaths to date. Objectives: To analyze the impact of economic and educational poverty on disease control in emerging countries like Angola. Methodology: Analytical study based on observations of the behavior of the Angolan population since the emergence of the first cases of COVID-19, the numbers of cases and deaths per COVID-19 of the last 10 months (July 2020 to April 2021). Results: Official data show that by May 8, 2021, 28,477 cases of COVID-19 had been diagnosed, from this 26,559 (93%) occurred between the months of July 2020 and the month of April 2021 and 630 people have already died, of these 596 (95%)deaths occurred in this period. The lowest number of COVID-19 cases was observed in July 2020 were did not reach 1,000 cases (average of 27.8 cases, SD = 18.4) and 40 deaths (average of 1.2 deaths, SD = 1.5). From that period on, the number of cases increased significantly, reaching the mark of 5833 cases in October (average of 188.2 cases, SD = 77.1) with 109 deaths (average of 3.3 deaths, SD = 2, 6). Although there are great concerns about the increase in cases, the epidemiological data of Angola are still more encouraging when compared to most countries in the world and in Africa, however, unemployment, hunger, lack of minimum conditions for survival, lack of health education, lack of assistance medical and medicine and other social phenomena could compromise the pandemic prevention and control strategies. Conclusion: Health education policies are more comprehensive and if we reduce social inequalities allowing even the poorest to have minimum conditions of survival such as access to water, electricity, food and other basic needs.