A lot of people meme about the malaria in Far Cry 2 as being annoying but personally I hated the instantly respawning checkpoints wayyy more. Getting the malaria pills side quest adds to the flavour and danger of the land, and like 1 button prompt once in awhile, while not ideal, isn’t the worst and can add into the tension when if flairs up at the wrong time.
But clearing a checkpoint, realising you made a wrong turn, turn back and needing to fight at the same checkpoint again? Gah!