Translator Marilyn McLellan says people's health is constantly put at risk because they do not know what doctors are talking about.

"I've heard of one lady who thought that she was having a minor operation on her foot and awoke to find she had lost her toes, which was a necessary operation," she said.

"The doctors weren't just glibly doing something but it was a misunderstanding and she was devastated to find such a drastic thing had happened when she didn't know."

Yolngu translator Yurranydjil Dhurrkay says little of what is said by doctors is understood by her people and that results in poor health.

"For most people it brings fear to them and most people will try to understand it but not really fully understand everything."