As the world battles coronavirus, a multi-lingual platform has been launched to enable information sharing among medical personnel across the globe.
Over 440 medical institutions from 104 countries and regions have applied to learn and share experiences in battling coronavirus disease through the International Medical Expert Communication Platform.
The platform, a centerpiece of the Global MediXchange for Combating COVID-19 (GMCC) program, was jointly established by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation. It was designed for medical experts around the world to communicate seamlessly with each other to share their invaluable experience of fighting COVID-19.
To date, the most applications have come from medical institutions in the US, Turkey, the UK, Pakistan, Spain, and Germany.
“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 covid-19.alibabacloud.com. One world, one fight!” Jack Ma wrote in a tweet.
Medical staff need to apply and be approved to join the platform. Once they’re accepted, they’re free to participate in individual or group discussions and sessions.
Tapping Alibaba Group’s DingTalk messaging and communications functions, the digital platform provides free audio and video conference functionality, along with live broadcast functions for more complex scenarios.
Medical workers from different countries can choose to communicate with their fellow doctors individually, or they can participate in live-sharing group sessions to interact with multiple participants using real-time artificial intelligence translation to overcome communication barriers.
The first affiliated hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (FAHZU), for example, has been using the platform to share their valuable experience with 92 medical institutions from 44 countries and regions.
AI translation from and into 11 languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Indonesian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese) enables the platform to build a virtual community.
Also as part of the GMCC programme, the Handbook of COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment, authored by Zhejiang University School of Medicine and complied according to clinical experience, is available at no cost and in seven languages: Chinese, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Turkish.
The handbook provides comprehensive guidelines and best practices by China’s top experts for coping with COVID-19.