(CNN) -- As we learned in past battles with polio and AIDS, the key to solving a massive health crisis is to move public sentiment away from fear and stigmatization toward action and acceptance. That is why a recent ad campaign about Ebola from Medicins Du Monde -- MDM or Doctors of the World -- is so encouraging An international humanitarian and medical organization with a long history of advocating for vulnerable populations, MDM joined in the United States with ad agency Publicis Kaplan Thaler to turn public fear of Ebola on its head by asking people to donate a hazmat suit to workers in Africa. The symbol of the fearful hazmat suit is reintroduced as a crucial piece of the solution: "Here it's a costume. There it saves lives."
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Martha Pease: We need to avoid stigmatizing Ebola as we did AIDS, polio
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She applauds recent ad campaign seeking to make hazmat suit a positive symbol
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Pease: Fear distracts us from focusing on treating Ebola at the source in Africa
It is possible we can chart a better course in the future on @placeholder by learning from the mistakes of the past in our response to AIDS and polio.
Finally, @placeholder needs an official face, a spokesperson high up in the U.S. government who is the credible, expert public voice of the disease both here and abroad.