Vithas Las Palmas Teaches Hand Hygiene to Children to Prevent Illness

Hospital Universitario Vithas Las Palmas Expands Youth Health Workshops

The Hospital Universitario Vithas Las Palmas continues its summer educational outreach through the Vithas Aula Salud Colegios initiative, which has reached nearly 1,200 students throughout 2026. As part of this ongoing public health campaign, medical staff recently conducted a free hygiene workshop for 90 children attending the Duendes Mágicos summer campus.

Sofía Ojeda, responsable de Prevención y Control de Infecciones de Vithas Canarias, and Carolina Ferreiro, a nurse at Hospital Universitario Vithas Las Palmas, led the instructional session. The specialists demonstrated how washing hands with soap removes germs that enter the body when children touch their eyes, noses, and mouths.

According to Ojeda, children are especially vulnerable because their immune systems are less developed and they frequently touch various objects and place them in their mouths. Brenda Rodríguez, the campus coordinator, praised the interactive approach, noting that instructors utilized washable paint to simulate germs in basins, helping children visually connect physical contact with microbial spread.

Core Guidelines for Effective Hand Washing

Medical experts emphasize that hand washing remains essential at specific daily intervals to curb transmission. Critical times for washing include before and after eating, following bathroom use, after coughing or sneezing, after touching animals, and after playing outdoors or utilizing public transportation.

The proper technique requires wetting hands, applying soap, and scrubbing thoroughly for at least 20 seconds. The cleaning process must cover wrists, palms, backs of hands, spaces between fingers, thumbs, and fingernails. Institutional programs like Vithas Aula Salud Colegios reinforce these lessons by distributing step-by-step visual guides and coloring books for school restrooms and classrooms.