INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ State health officials are launching a new nonprofit foundation that Indiana lawmakers created to raise money for efforts to combat the state's high infant mortality rate and other health woes.

Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams will join first lady Karen Pence and others in a Thursday discussion of the new Healthy Hoosiers Foundation at the department's downtown Indianapolis headquarters.

Health department staffers will discuss some of the top agency initiatives that will be funded through the foundation's fundraising efforts. Those include the multimedia Labor of Love campaign that's aimed at trying to reduce Indiana's high infant-mortality rate and a tobacco cessation program for mothers called “Baby & Me Tobacco Free.” 

The foundation will also fund campaigns targeting adult obesity and Indiana's high smoking rate.