PHILADELPHIA -- The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and the Center for Bioethics at Penn, led by Arthur Caplan, will host a conference on eradicating inequalities in local and global health care using a moral compass.

At "Global Perspectives and Ethical Mandates for Reducing Health Disparities" a day-long conference on March 24 at the School of Nursing Auditorium, 420 Guardian Drive, Penn and international experts will discuss:

Afaf I. Meleis, dean of the Penn School of Nursing and consul general of the International Council on Women Health Issues, said, "This conference promises to create a dialogue to find solutions worldwide."

Presenters will include Gerald Keusch, assistant provost for global health at the Boston University Medical Campus and associate dean for global health at BU; Ruth Macklin, professor of bioethics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Philadelphia; and James Greenwood, president and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry organization in Washington, D.C.

'Not every solution will be socially and culturally compatible today but may become so if it has strong, well-reasoned moral grounding," Caplan said.

Members of the news media are welcome to attend.