| Birth Date: | 17 November 1909 |
| Birth Place: | Strašín, Czech Republic |
| Death Place: | Prague, Czech Republic |
| Workplaces: | Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology World Health Organization |
| Alma Mater: | Charles University |
| Known For: | Smallpox eradication |
| Awards: | Edward Jenner Medal (1984) |
Karel Raška (pronounced as /cs/; 17 November 1909 – 21 November 1987) was a Czech physician and epidemiologist, who headed the successful international effort during the 1960s to eradicate smallpox.
Raška was a Director of the WHO Division of Communicable Disease Control since 1963. His new concept of eliminating the disease was adopted by the WHO in 1967 and eventually led to the eradication of smallpox in 1977.[1] Raška was also a strong promoter of the concept of disease surveillance, which was adopted in 1968 and has since become a standard practice in epidemiology.[2]
At the end of World War II, together with epidemiologist František Patočka, he was personally leading measures to stop the spread of epidemic typhus in the Terezín concentration camp.[3]
Despite being respected abroad, Raška's contribution to eradicating smallpox was not appreciated in Communist Czechoslovakia. In 1970 he was fired from the leadership of the Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology by communist authorities.[3] In 1972 he was forced to retire, and was even banned from entering the Institute premises.[4] The reason was personal enmity from the communist minister of health, . Raška revealed Prokopec plagiarized his doctoral thesis.[3]