Zululand District is situated in the northern part of the Province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is neighboured by King Cetshwayo District in the south; UMkhanyakude District is in the North-East, Mpumalanga Province and Swaziland in the North, Amajuba District in the Northwest and UMzinyathi District in the Southwest.

The district is deep rural with many hard to reach areas. Some areas have poor road infrastructure resulting in clients having to walk long distances to access health care services. Transport flow contributes to difficulties in clients accessing health facilities as is noted in some areas at Nongoma; Ulundi and Abaqulusi sub districts; as a result there is more access in urban facilities compared to rural facilities ( Queen Nolonolo; Mason ; Ulundi A and UMdumezulu clinics).

The development of new Family Health Teams and New mobiles seem to address this challenge however the absence of dedicated vehicles for the teams is also a challenge. Zululand District has five local municipalities which are; eDumbe, uPhongolo, Nongoma, Abaqulusi and Ulundi.

The district population has grown by at least 2% in the past three years from 862 050 (12/13); 824 091 (2013/14) to 844 531 (2015/16) (Stats SA 2011).