The United Nations has expressed concern that the Philippines could encourage smoking by hosting one of the world's biggest tobacco trade shows, a health official said Tuesday.

U.N. agencies in the Philippines have written to President Benigno Aquino citing Manila's treaty pledge to ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, World Health Organisation senior health adviser Eigil Sorensen said.

A major medical group is updating its guidelines for handling amateur or professional athletes suspected of having a concussion.

The American Academy of Neurology says the athletes should be taken out of action immediately and kept out until they've been cleared by a health care provider with training about concussions.

The Philippines' highest court suspended on Tuesday a controversial birth control law that had met fierce opposition from the powerful Catholic Church.

Voting 10-5, the Supreme Court issued a four-month freeze against the law, which requires government health centers to hand out free condoms and schools to teach sex education, court spokesman Theodore Te said.

Giving your toddler skimmed or semi-skimmed milk is unlikely to make inroads against the risk of obesity, a large study conducted among American children has found.

Researchers trawled through data from a long-term probe into the health of 10,700 children born in 2001.

Taking vitamin D supplements in pregnancy seems to make no difference to a child's bone health, in contrast to guidelines in some countries, research published in The Lancet on Tuesday says.

University of Bristol investigators in western England looked at vitamin D levels throughout the pregnancy of nearly 4,000 British women.

Even as videogames come under scrutiny for potential harmful impacts, researchers and developers are touting digital games for positive effects on health, learning and other social goals.

The immersive power of games is being used to encourage kids to develop healthy eating, help seniors maintain brain functions and even to tackle problems like poverty and climate change.

Hundreds of Spanish doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, many wearing white lab coats, marched in Madrid on Sunday against budget cuts and plans to partly privatize medical services.

They chanted and blew whistles as they made their way through the streets of the Spanish capital, blocking traffic, behind a large banner that read: "Healthcare is not to be sold, it is to be defended".

A growing number of U.S. parents oppose doctors' recommendations to vaccinate teenage girls against human papillomavirus (HPV), the main cause of cervical cancer, a study said Monday.

Parents cited reasons such as believing their child was too young or not sexually active, concerns about safety and side effects, or lack of knowledge about the vaccine, said the study in the journal Pediatrics.

A smartphone that can take the pulse of a user just by looking at his or her face was unveiled in Japan on Monday.

Technology giant Fujitsu plans to put the invention to practical use within a year, enabling people at work or at home to track their health and collect data for analysis without wearing special devices.

The Swiss government said Friday that it was marking the 150th anniversary of the Red Cross by providing funds to train 150 of the aid workers who form the organisation's backbone.

Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter made the announcement in a speech at a conference dedicated to Switzerland's humanitarian operations, a government statement said.