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 The African Region accounts for 18%  of the 376 million new STI cases each year. Among people aged 15–49 years: chlamydia infections (127 million)‎, gonorrhea (87 million)‎, syphilis (‎6 million)‎ and trichomoniasis (156 million)‎.  Although most STIs are not life threatening, the large number of people infected with STIs worldwide imposes a substantial strain on the budgets of both households and national health systems and compromises the quality of life of individuals. Despite this there is a lack of literature on their burden and trends within the Sub-Saharan African region 

In Kenya, national estimates for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), are mostly unknown, as there is no routine reporting done by facilities nor are broadly representative prevalence surveys being performed. Despite the lack of data, Kenya’s generalized HIV epidemic and documented vulnerable populations indicate that STIs are a public health concern.

Like most countries within the Sub-Saharan African region, Kenya has weak sexual and reproductive healthcare services and people who are seeking screening and treatment for STIs face numerous problems. These include limited resources, stigmatization, poor quality of services, and little or no follow-up of sexual partners. In many settings, STI services are provided separately, often by the private sector and are not available in primary health care, family planning and other routine health services. Moreover, services are often unable to provide screening for asymptomatic infections, lacking trained personnel, laboratory capacity and adequate supplies of appropriate medicines.

Kenya has shown leadership in the area of adolescent SRH by adopting favorable international and regional policies and legal frameworks that promote sexual health and reproductive services. However,  the current coverage of services is inadequate and the rate of expansion is too slow to achieve global targets. Access to preventive and curative services is still challenging, and the implementation of STI programmes is constrained by lack of financial sustainability and poor research activities.

Consequently, vulnerable populations such as pregnant individuals, sex workers and adolescents  continue to be burdened by the lack of effective sexual and reproductive healthcare services . At the national level, 103 out of every 1000 births are to 15-to-19-year-old girls, which represents 37% of the national total fertility rate. Data from the National AIDS Control Council show that adolescents between the ages of 15–24 years have 46% of all new infections in Kenya and represent about 17.7% of persons living with HIV and 11% of all HIV-related deaths in the country.