HANGZHOU, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Online platforms have become an important channel for doctors across the globe to join hands in fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Over 490 medical institutions from 109 countries and regions have applied to join the Global MediXchange for Combating COVID-19 (GMCC) program -- an online platform jointly set up by Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation -- to fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

Most are medical institutions and practitioners in the United States, Turkey, Britain, Pakistan, Spain and Germany.

Designed for medics around the world to communicate and share experiences on treating COVID-19, GMCC provides doctors with free teleconferencing and live chat.

Medical practitioners can either communicate individually or in a group chat with the help of an artificial intelligence translator that can interpret real-time in 11 languages. Doctors at the First Hospital of Zhejiang Province, for instance, have shared wits with medics from 44 countries on the platform.

The teleconferences can also be replayed to facilitate those with jetlag.

"Knowledge is power! We launched an online platform for doctors and nurses around the world to exchange ideas, lessons and know-how to fight the virus. We welcome all hospitals to join Chinese hospitals on this open platform," Jack Ma tweeted on March 26.

To date, numerous Chinese medical institutions on the frontline of China's anti-epidemic fight have joined the platform, including Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, which now takes charge of Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital -- a makeshift hospital built in less than two weeks to treat COVID-10 patients.

Also as part of the program, a handbook on prevention and treatment of COVID-19, compiled by China's frontline medics, is offered free of charge online.

This handbook provides comprehensive guidelines by China's top health experts in treating COVID-19. It is now available in 14 languages, including Chinese, English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Japanese, Persian, Indonesian and Serbian, and versions in more languages will soon be put up online. Enditem

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