Access to fresh water and sanity represent elementary human rights leading to a healthy life and high life quality. Among other features of social exclusion, poor access to basic infrastructure such as drinking water pipelines and public sewage systems may adversely affect human health and cause high risk of epidemics related to poor hygienic conditions. Not surprisingly, communities with low hygienic conditions and poor access to drinking water are often at high risk of spreading Covid-19. In Slovakia, numerous communities of Roma ethnicity have been repeatedly reported to have no or limited access to sewage and drinking water pipeline systems. The principal aim of our paper is to analyse the quality of access to various water sources in Roma communities located in NUTS2 East Slovakia consisting of Prešov and Košice Self-Governing Regions. Our ambition is to show how the level of spatial segregation of Roma communities affects the quality of access to healthy water sources. The database used in the paper allows covering regional and partly also local territorial levels of scope. Specifically, we attempt to show the conditions in the most segregated Roma communities located apart from built-up areas of municipalities with generally poor access to drinking water.

Spatial isolation and social exclusion of some of the Roma communities have been a long-term issue in specific Slovakia regions. Along with some other factors, these may contribute to poor access to labour markets for Roma residents of such communities. As public transport acts as an important means of mobility of socially excluded residents, we consider the quality and accessibility of the public transport network as an important element that can impact on the spatially isolated Roma’s ability to reach labour markets, as well as services, education, etc. Based on our empirical evidence, this paper aims to provide a better understanding and analysis of the social exclusion of segregated Roma neighbourhoods in the context of spatial exclusion and transport disadvantage related to public transportation accessibility. We tried to focus on physical accessibility of public transport points for the communities, as well as on the quality and frequency of public transport services available at these points for residents of Roma communities. Our research covered three different regions of Eastern Slovakia, where the concentration of Roma communities is high compared to the rest of the country.