We were saddened to hear of the untimely passing of our colleague, teacher and friend, Wang Xiaoguang, one of the founders of Yunnan Daytop in China. Yunnan Daytop is a leader in China’s efforts to provide voluntary and supportive harm reduction services to people who use drugs, and in that role Wang Xiaoguang has been a consistent advocate for drug users and for Chinese grassroots NGOs that serve them. Asia Catalyst and other international agencies frequently called on Xiaoguang for his insights and advice, and we’ll be at a real loss without him to turn to.
Our (unofficial) translation of Daytop’s obituary for him follows, along with the Chinese original text.
Asia Catalyst
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Wang Xiaoguang, the deputy director of Yunnan Daytop Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, passed away at 12:58 a.m. on November 4, 2011. He was forty-one years old.
Wang Xiaoguang was one of the founders of Yunnan Daytop. Beginning in 1998, he dedicated himself to helping
drug users, and in those fourteen years he helped a large number of people recovering from drug dependence.
He served as a member and representative of the Global Fund China Program HIV/AIDS NGO Working Committee, and as a consultant for many international partnerships on HIV/AIDS, devoting himself to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in China. Wang Xiaoguang’s untimely passing is a great loss for his family, for his colleagues at Yunnan Daytop, and for the fields of drug dependence and HIV/AIDS prevention in China.
A memorial service for Wang Xiaoguang will be held at 8 a.m. on November 5, 2011 at the Kunming Western Suburbs Funeral Parlor.
In memoriam,
Yunnan Daytop Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center
November 4, 2011
云南戴托普药物依赖治疗康复中心副主任王晓光先生于2011年11月4日零点58分因病医治无效在昆明病逝，享年41岁。王晓光先生作为云南戴托普药物依赖治疗康复中心的创始人之一，从1998年开始投入到帮助药物滥用者的工作中来，10余年来帮助了大量的药物滥用者，作为全球基金中国艾滋病项目非政府组织工作委员会代表及成员、全球基金中国艾滋病项目国家级咨询小组成员、多个国际艾滋病合作项目的顾问及专家组成员，多年来为中国的艾滋病防治事业燃烧了自己的一份光和热。王晓光先生的英年早逝无论对其家庭还是云南戴托普中心，乃至药物滥用及艾治病防治领域都是一个巨大的损失。
王晓光先生的追悼会定于2011年11月5日上午8时在昆明西郊殡仪馆举行。
特此讣告。
云南戴托普药物依赖治疗康复中心
2011年11月4日
