I know quinine has some side effects, not sure about mexican prickly poppy or artemisia, could look it up.

There is a malaria vaccine, it just isn't that effective, I think there are more than one. 30% effective if I recall, and even then it might just have lessened the effects and not prevented the infection. I want to say Sanofi but I don't recall.

As to the deaths, it really matters what strain of malaria, there are a lot, and also what they use to treat it. Because using drugs, the parasite gets immune to it, especially when they don't use them in combination with another antimalarial to prevent resistance forming, which I believe is one reason some parts of Africa have up to half of kids with brain damage from this fucking parasite, (it breaks from liver into bloodstream and colonizes the brain and the body lights us with fever over 106 degrees, which is brain damage.)

But the plants that treat it, they produce several related drugs around 10% of alkaloids or active ingredient, then a dozen or more at 1% or so, 80% being the main compound. Ie quinine bark the main one is chloroquinine or whatever. Anyway, prevents resistance from forming like with just the isolated chloroquinine, of which malaria is mostly immune to now.