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.

[4] The reason was personal enmity from the communist minister of health, Jaroslav Prokopec [cs].