Impact of active and passive smoking as risk factors for asthma and COPD in women presenting to primary care in Syria: first report by the WHO-GARD survey group.

Background: The burden of chronic respiratory disease (CRD) is alarming. International studies suggest that women with CRD are undersurveyed and underdiagnosed by physicians worldwide. It is unclear what the prevalence of CRD is in the general population of Syria, particularly among women, since there has never been a survey on CRD in this nation.